The Long Road
by Emily
Summary: WIP Buffy leaves Sunnydale and heads to New York - where obstacles await her. A BuffyBlade crossover Chapter 21 up!
1. Slayers

_I do not own any of the characters in this story.  Joss Whedon owns all of the characters of Buffy and the person who created Blade owns him and all the attached elements.  _

The Long Road

Chapter One:  Slayers

Faith sat in her cell, wearily staring at the ceiling, the cracks in it long since memorized.  Two fuckin' years she'd been in this place.  But it had seemed like centuries.  Slayers weren't meant to be put behind walls.  They needed the fresh air, open spaces, freedom to move.

But that's why she was here in the first place.  Too much freedom had sent her over the edge, causing her to make choices that she knew were wrong but did anyway.  Causing her to go against everything a slayer stood for.  She had killed people.  Plural.  True, the first had been an accident.  But after that…after that it was for the kill.  It was for the excitement, the adrenaline rush.  And that had all spiraled down to the one moment when she broke.  When she went crashing into Angel's arms, sobbing, as she realized the monster she had become.

And so she sat, or in this case, stared.  It had been months since he had visited.  Ever since Buffy…

_No, she thought, slowly sitting up her back wincing in stiffness.  __I won't think about it.  They told me B was dead and I felt it.  She saved the world.  Again.  Always doing the self-sacrificing.  Always doing the fuckin' right thing.  It almost makes me sick.  I know they look at me and compare me to her.  I was the rogue, the insane slayer.  She was the strong, do-gooder.  I was bad, she was good.  It was as simple as that to them._

_But I can still feel her.  It's been more than two years since I last heard from Angel.  Don't know what shit he's in.  But B's here.  She's not dead.  I mean, she was, but now she isn't.  She CAN'T be._

She heard footsteps walking towards her cell.  She turned slowly, surprised as the guard stopped in front of her cell but she refused to show it.  She stared at him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Ya got a visitor Faith."

The words echoed through her head.  She was surprised at the array of emotions she felt as she realized someone had come to see her.  She hadn't had any human, well vampire, contact since the last time Angel had come.  And that had been more than two years ago now.  She slowly walked down the hall, a drop of excitement running through her.  That drop was probably the first time in a year she had felt anything other than boredom and despondency.  She didn't even care who it was – any contact was better than no contact at all.

But nothing could have prepared her for this.  The guard led her in the holding area and she sat down in one of the chairs at the table.  She sat there for a couple minutes, tapping the table impatiently before the door opened again.  Faith turned towards it and froze in shock.

"Hey Faith."

Faith stared at the blond in front of her, too shocked to say anything.  The woman slowly walked forward and sat in the other chair, staring at Faith.  "What's wrong?  Cat got your tongue?"

"B…."

Buffy smiled a sad smile as she nodded.

"They told me you were dead."

Buffy nodded again.  "I was.  But they brought me back.  They thought that I was in a hell dimension so Willow found a spell that could bring me back.  It worked.  And I've been back for about two years now."

Faith sat back in her chair, not believing what she was hearing.  "Red brought you back?  So the bitch's getting really strong with magic, huh?"

Buffy winced slightly at the word Faith had used but pushed past it.  This was not the same to get into an argument.  There were more important things to say.

"Yeah.  _Willow," she began stressing the name, "was really powerful even though some of the things she got into were too dark."_

"Was?" Faith asked, not missing the past tense that Buffy used.  Something was wrong even though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.  Buffy was different.  She wasn't the bitch that Faith remembered.  She wasn't as self-righteous as she had been.  She was…changed.

"Yeah, was," whispered Buffy, breaking eye contact for the first time as she stared down into her lap.  Silence passed between them for a few moments before she looked back up again.

"She's dead.  All of them are dead.  Even Giles.  Even Dawn."

Faith's hardened heart softened at those words.  Even though she had hated Buffy at one point and she still wasn't sure that she liked her, she felt compassion for her.  She reached across the table, and placed her hand on top of Buffy's.  "I'm sorry, B."

Buffy nodded in acknowledgement, encouraged by the change in Faith's eyes.  Where, just moment ago, they had been cold orbs, she now saw a flicker of a flame in there.  _She'll be okay, Buffy thought.  __She really has changed and soon, that flicker will turn back into the fire I've seen there before.  But it'll be calmer, not as wild.  She'll do the Hellmouth good._

"Thanks," she said, pushing back her grief.  There would be another time, another place for that.  "But that's not why I came."

Faith straightened immediately, a guarded expression on her face.  "What is it B?  Did you come to chew me out?  Tell me how much I deserve to be here?"

"No."

The simple but firm reply caught Faith off-guard.  "Then why…"

"Before she died," Buffy took a deep breathe, pushing back the tears that threatened to flow.  "Willow told me that the Hellmouth was slowly beginning to open again.  I don't know how she knew but she did.  I told her I would take care of it that there were more important things to worry about."

"But I realize, now, that's not my job anymore.  When my friends died, my life in Sunnydale died.  I don't belong there anymore.  It is not my job to protect it."

Faith leaned forward, her grip on Buffy's hand tightening.  "B, you need to be there.  No one else can take care of it.  You're the Slayer for Christsake.  That is your job."

Buffy shook her head, the sad smile once again playing on her lips.  "No.  It's your job."

Faith sat stunned for the third time in as many minutes.  Did the loss of her friends and family send Buffy over the edge?  She'd be in here for a long time, and by then the Hellmouth would be opened.  But as she opened her mouth to speak, Buffy shook her head.

"I know what you're thinking," she stated.  "You'll be good and dead by the time you get out of here.  You're getting out a lot sooner than that."

Buffy leaned forward, her voice hushed.  "Listen.  Quentin Travers is no longer in charge of the Council.  He's been booted.  And the new guy thinks it would be in everyone's best interest if both slayers were active at the same time.  So they've been working on getting you out and they're getting really close.  Close enough that they don't really mind that I'm leaving Sunnydale."

"I've talked to the new guy.  Francis Droken.  A little stuffy, but he genuinely cares about the Slayers.  And he agrees with me.  More or less."  For the first time since she arrived, Buffy flashed Faith a genuine smile.  "I had to make him agree with me, but he agrees.  You're going back to Sunnydale.  And they're sending you a new watcher.  And before you say anything, I've met her.  She's not your typical watcher.  Actually does real field work and has encounters vamps before.  She's tough but she's likable.  It'll be good for you."

"And I'm not leaving you alone.  I've already contacted Oz.  He agreed to come back to help you out as long as you promise not to kill him.  Jonathan will help to and Anya will pop in from time to time.  But she can't do much because her job occupies a large portion of her time."

"Why are you doing this, B?" Faith asked, tears stinging her eyes.  "I tried to kill you and your friends.  I'm a screwed up bitch who doesn't deserve it?  Why?"

"We're sisters, Faith.  Slayers Sisters.  I will _always be there to help you no matter what happens.  We don't give up on each other."_

Faith nodded, not able to say anything.  Buffy stood up slowly favoring her "sister" with a smile.  "I have to go now.  I've finished what I've come here for."

Faith stood up and followed Buffy to the door, unsure of what to say.  "Where are you going to go?"

Buffy shrugged.  "I don't know yet.  Maybe I'll stick around L.A. for a while, maybe I'll go to Arizona.  Maybe New York – I think I might have family there.  But wherever I go, I'll never forget you.  And I'll always be there for you."

With that, Buffy pulled Faith into a hug.  Tears streamed down both of their faces as sudden realization came to them.  This was probably the last time they would ever see each other.  Their destinies lie on different paths.

As they pulled apart, Buffy tilted Faith's head down and gently kissed her on the forehead, a kiss between sisters.  Slowly, Buffy turned to the door.  "Goodbye Faith."

"Will you be okay?" Faith asked, watching as Buffy walked out the door.

"I'm five by five, Faith."

The door closed softly behind Buffy with a slight click.  Faith smiled as she heard the retreating footsteps.  She stood there until the footsteps disappeared completely and she was left alone.  But, she knew, she was never really alone.  Not now.  She could face anything thrown at her – she would always have someone there for her.  "Goodbye B.  Best of luck to you wherever you go."


	2. Memories

_A/N – I'm going to be jumping between __New York__ and Sunnydale in this fic so I thought I would warn you know.  Oh, and in the Blade timeline, this takes place during the first movie right after he met Karen.  Oh, and I still don't own any of the characters in this fic._

Memories

Buffy sighed as she trudged through the streets of New York, the evening wind whipping around her small form.  She walked towards her apartment, head bent to avoid any unwanted attention.  She had lived in New York for three months now.  After selling her house and most of the furniture, she had collected the money she had saved up and moved her entire life.

Her apartment in New York was small and not in the best area, but it was hers.  And she already had pinned down a job as a waitress just a couple blocks from her apartment.  So life was decent.  She had money to pay rent, a place to live, and enough to eat.  But something was missing in her life.  Something…

Images hit her suddenly, causing her to stagger slightly in her steps.  She shook her head to clear it but by then they were far too vivid to push away.  She slouched against the wall, breathing heavy as images of that night came back to her.

_She groggily opened her eyes, her head pounding immediately.  She tried to stand up but for some reason she couldn't move.  Her vision was blurry at first but it slowly sharpened._

_"Where am I?" she asked, her voice hoarse.  The last thing she remembered was riding in Xander's car with Xander, __Willow__, and Dawn, and then suddenly a flash of light appeared in the windshield and – _

_"Oh my God," she whispered.  "We were hit."_

_Her eyes finally focused and she found that she was still in the car, though the dashboard was now crushed against her.  She moved her arm and a fire hot pain shot through her arm.  *Dislocated.*_

_But even with the hurt arm she pushed against the dashboard and with one swift burst of strength, the car creaked slowly away from her.  She took a deep breathe, her arms shaking with exertion and pain.  As she sat there, breathing, she noticed the wetness on her forehead for the first time.  She brushed her relatively uninjured hand across it and when she pulled it back, blood dripped from her fingertips._

_A wave of fear passed through her as she realized now, how bad the accident was.  Suddenly, because of her enhanced Slayer hearing, she heard the faint screeching of sirens.  *The ambulance.  They're coming to help us.*_

_"Us," she stated suddenly, remembering the others that were in the car with her.  She turned her to the left to see if Xander was alright.  He sat in the driver's seat, slumped against the steering wheel._

_"Xander," she said forcefully.  "Xander, get up."_

_When he did not respond, she reached over to shake him.  As she did, his head rolled towards her and she found herself staring into his unseeing eyes.  A scream bubbled in her throat as she realized he was dead.  She immediately withdrew her hand, her entire body shaking._

_*OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod…*_

_She froze as she stared at him, not wanting to believe it.  One of her best friends was dead.  Never coming back.  Never.  The bile rose in her through but she pushed it away and immediately turned around.  Dawn was in the back seat, her body sprawled across the seat._

_"Dawn.  Dawn!"  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at her sister, her last link to her family.  Her hand, shaking, slowly reached out to push the hair away from her sister's face.  But as she had just brushed Dawn's dark brown mane, Dawn shifted slightly in her seat.  Hope rose in Buffy as her sister moved slowly, pushing the hair away from her face._

_"Buffy?" Dawn asked her voice distant.  She stared at Buffy with unfocused eyes.  "What happened?"_

_"I'm not sure.  I think we were hit by a car," Buffy whispered, her voice choked by tears.  Dawn nodded slightly, wincing at the pain of the motion.  Suddenly, her entire demeanor changed.  Her body stiffened and she looked at her sister, her eyes suddenly focused._

_"I love you," Dawn said simply.  "Thank you for taking care of me."_

_Buffy's eyes widened as her sister's eyes slowly started to close.  "No, no, no.  Dawn, not yet.  It's not your time.  DAWN!"_

_The last word came out as a scream as her sister closed her eyes and breathed her last.  Grief she had never known passed through her, pain worse than when her mother had died, worse than when she had sent Angel to Hell.  Her friend and her sister were gone._

_But there was still __Willow__…_

Buffy was torn out of her memories as she was thrown against the brick wall of an alley.  She winced as her back hit the wall.  She slowly stood up, glaring at the creature that had attacked her.  All thoughts of that night were gone.

"You're in the wrong area, little girl," the creature whispered, chuckling as he took a step forward.  Four others appeared behind him, stalking forward menacingly.  But Buffy only glared at them.  "Next time you should be more careful.  But then, you won't have to worry about that now will you?"

"Don't you _ever come up with new lines?" she spat, annoyed at being interrupted.  "All I wanted was to go home, maybe watch some tv, maybe get some sleep.  But now I have to put up with you.  God, can you people __be any more annoying?"_

The creature in front growled at her and took a step forward, stepping into the dim light of the alley.  Sharp fangs extended from his mouth, though his features looked normal.  Only the way he moved and his fangs showed he was different then a man.

He leapt forward.  Buffy jumped up to meet him and immediately kicked him in the chest.  He stumbled back, not prepared for the unexpected attack.  But she didn't let him recover and, faster than he could see, whipped a jagged knife from under her coat.  With one swift stroke, she beheaded him and his body turned to dust.

"Who's next?" she asked, turning her attention to the rest of the vampires.  They looked at each other, unsure of what to do.  Suddenly, they all turned towards her and attacked in unison.  But, expecting this, she twisted out of their way and punched one with a series of hooks and jabs.  She quickly twisted her knife again and beheaded the next vamp.  Now, only three were left.  One got lucky, landing a sharp kick to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.  She was stunned for a moment but quickly recovered and kneed him in the groin.

The vampire went down, moaning in agony.  She went to behead him but the knife was knocked out of her hand.  She fell back against the wall as she was punched in the face.  The three vampires stalked forward, though the one winced with every step.  She leapt at them and flew into a tornado kick, knocking one to the ground and the other two back.  She kept coming forward, punching and kicking randomly, not letting the vampires collect themselves.

One of them grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, his arms enclosed around her abdomen.  He leaned forward and pushed her head up, preparing to bite her neck.  Before he could do so, she reached around his arms and, grabbing his head with her hands, wretched it with all of her might.  The vampire turned to dust as his head was jerked from the rest of his body.

As the remaining two circled her, a sudden movement caught the corner of her eye.  A black blur jumped in front of her, his sword shining silver in the dimly lit alley.

"Daywalker," one of the vampires sneered, hissing at the man standing in front of Buffy.  Before Buffy had any time to react, the two vampires jumped at the man.  With one quick slash of his sword, he beheaded the two, leaving nothing but dust.

"Idiots," the man said, spitting on the ashes in the alley.  He turned around and eyed Buffy for the first time.  She stared at him, eyeing him warily.  He wasn't a vampire but he wasn't exactly human.  She could feel…something about him.  He was different.

"Next time, be more careful," he said sharply.  "I won't be there every time."

Anger rose up in Buffy as she glared at the man, her hands automatically going to her hips.  "I don't need your help.  I was taking care of myself just fine."

An eyebrow rose in disbelief behind his dark sunglasses – _How can he see with those anyone? – though he didn't say anything.  "Just be careful, kid.  There are dangerous things out there."_

He started to turn but before he could go anywhere, Buffy's attention was drawn to a person behind him.  Without acknowledging her "savior," she flipped over him and, grabbing her fallen knife, cut the head off of the vampire that had attempted to sneak up on him.  As the ashes fell to the ground, she turned to him.

"Like I said, I can take care of myself."

She turned around and walked out of the alley, carefully keeping tabs on the man behind her.  If he tried anything, she would put him down.

"Wait."

She stopped at the voice but did not turn.  As she heard his footsteps behind her, she slowly spun around and looked at him with a blank face.  "What do you want?"

"Who are you?"

She shrugged, pulling her coat around her tighter as the chilly breeze picked up.  "The Slayer.  Nothing more.  Just the Slayer.  What is it to you, whoever you are?"

"You could fight against them," he said gruffly, not sure of how to take her.  She was about a foot shorter than her and looked weak enough but after watching her fight, he didn't know.  There was something about her, something that made her different.  Something that made her kind of like him in a way.

"Well, duh.  Thank you Mr. Obvious," she said dryly.  "Now, do you have anything else to say or can I go home now.  This really has not been the best day and all I want is to relax."

They stood in silence for a moment as he fought internally with himself.  Finally, as her eyes seemed to bore holes through his sunglasses, he made his decision.  "Come with me.  I want to talk to you.  You know about them, the vampires.  You know how to fight them.  I want to know why and how."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, considering her options.  _I can go home, relax, and then go back to work tomorrow and continue on with my life.  Or, I can go with a total stranger, to a place I don't know about, to find out about vampires and why he fights them.  Well, I never said I was too bright._

"Fine, I'll go with you," she said.  "But first – who are you?"

"The vampires call me the Daywalker," he said.  "But I'm known as Blade."


	3. Choices

_Once again, I do not own any of the characters.  The Faith section is going to be beginning in the next chapter.  Hope you enjoy this one!  Oh, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed this fic so far.  I really appreciate it!_

Choices

"Whister!" Blade called out as he entered the warehouse.  Buffy followed him, an uneasy feeling suddenly overtaking her.  The air here was different, wrong.  Blade stopped suddenly, causing her to run into him.

He did not even glance at her as he walked a few steps to his right.  A dead human body lain against a stack of shelves, drying blood all around.  Blade roughly grabbed his head and forced it down, grimacing at the tattoo on the back of his neck.

"What is that?" Buffy whispered as she stared at the dead human.

"He's marked," Blade explained without looking at her.  "That mark means he's owned by a vampire.  He's doing their work."

Buffy stared at the body in repulsion, anger rising in her.  Just the thought that a human would work for those monsters sickened her.  Blade stalked away and she followed him immediately, kicking the body as she passed.  _And to think, I protect people like him.  I put my life on the line every single frickin' day for bastards like him._

Blade stopped once again, but this time she was ready for it.  She froze as his entire body tensed.  She looked passed him and ice filled her veins as she saw the bloody sheet covering a body.  By the way he had tensed, she knew that there was someone he knew underneath it.  She stood there as he walked slowly to the body, not wanting to intrude on something personal.  She knew what it was like to lose someone.  

She looked away as he pulled the sheet off, just catching a glimpse of the extremely bloody and beaten body of an older man.  She averted her attention to other things, using her senses to make sure that no one else was in the building.  She closed her eyes, slowly sweeping through the building.

They were alone.  No vampires, no demons.  Just her, the barely alive man, and him.  Her forehead wrinkled as she tried to place his exact "feel" but she couldn't.  He was not human, that was for sure, but he was not a vampire either.

As she thought about him, she caught glimpses of the conversation.  She tried not to listen, but every now and then pieces of the conversation would float over.

"…took her."

"You're the key….blood…"

"…..chosen one….."

"…..shit."

"...finish me…"

"It's ….far gone…"

"No."

"Now walk…."

A gunshot rang through the warehouse, causing Buffy to jump in the loudness of the sound.  Her eyes shot open just in time to see the gun fall from the man's hand.  He had killed himself, probably to keep from becoming a vampire.  She lowered her eyes momentarily in respect for the dead before slowly walking towards Blade.

He had already grabbed something from a small table and was quickly leaving the room, not outwardly acknowledging that his friend was dead.  Buffy almost had to run to keep up with his fast pace, but she said nothing.

She followed him into a small room, barren of decorations.  Only the slightly rumpled bed showed that someone had stayed there recently.  A vcr and tv sat on one side of the room.  Blade casually tossed his coat onto the bed – _reminds me of Spike's duster, Buffy thought almost wistfully – and put the tape in.  He slowly took off his sunglasses as the tape began._

Buffy stared at the screen, watching as the face of man come onscreen.  "By the time you watch this, your friend Whistler should be dead.  If it makes any difference to you, he put up quite a fight.  You can find us at the Edgewood Towers."

The tape suddenly zoomed out, showing others holding a young black woman, who struggled incessantly against their holds.  The man smirked as he walked over to her, glancing at her for a moment before the tape went blank.  Buffy glanced over at Blade, trying to study his stoic face.  He showed no emotions, but Buffy could once again feel the anger and hate radiating off the man, almost involuntarily stepping back.  

"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly, her voice loud in the silent room.  He stood there for a moment, not answering her at first.  Then, quietly but forcefully he said,

"Going after her."

Buffy stood in indecision for a moment.  "But they'll be expecting you.  You're walking into a trap."

"I know," he said, spinning to stare down at her.  "I don't have a choice, though, do I?  They'll kill her if I don't come.  That's not something I want hanging over my head."

"Why you?  Why now?" she asked.  "What is so important that they need you right now?"

"What are you the key to?"

The last question was so quiet that at first it seemed that he had not heard her.  He stared past her, his face blank of emotions.  But he could not fool Buffy.  After all, she had fooled herself for almost a year with the same expression.  She knew he was hiding how much it hurt, how much it upset him that he had just lost a friend and could lost another.  She could relate to him there.

"They want me because I'm one of the few that fights against them.  I'm one of the few that can hurt them."

Buffy glanced at him in impatience.  "You didn't answer my last question.  What are you the key to?"

Silence greeted her answer as he struggled with himself, mastering his emotions.  "What does it matter?  I have to go."

"And why are you so interesting?  This isn't your problem," he almost yelled, glaring at the girl.  "I don't know why I asked you to come with me anymore.  Go home, go relax at home.  Forget about this.  This isn't your fight."

"No," Buffy said, her voice tight.  "That's where you're wrong.  They are my problem, my fight.  I've been fighting them for eight fuckin' years – don't you DARE tell me that this isn't my fight.  I'm the Slayer; I was chosen to fight them.  And I'm not leaving now.  You asked me to come because you obviously saw something in me that you couldn't understand.  Now, explain to me what is going on.  But even if you don't, I'm going with you."

Blade's eyes hardened.  "I'm not letting you get involved with something you don't understand."

She rolled her eyes, her voice filled with exasperation.  "Let me?  _Let me?  Nobody lets me do things or tell me to do things – I do what I want, when I want, and how I want.  I think with my heart, act impulsively, think on my feet.  That's what makes me the longest living slayer in over a century.  Now, tell me what is going on because I'm going to help."_

Blade stared at the girl, incredulous that a girl so young was talking to him as if she was his elder.  How _dare she?  She was just a girl – she couldn't realize how dangerous it was out there._

But a nagging in the back of his head pushed that thought away.  _She doesn't fear them at all – even surrounded and outnumbered she shows no fear.  And there's pain she's hiding.  I can see it in her eyes, even though she tries to hide it.  I want to send her away but I can't.  She could be an asset._

"Fine.  You can come with me," he said curtly.  "But you have to watch out for yourself.  I have more important things to worry about than watching out for you."

She sighed, knowing that was the best she was going to get out of him.  "Fine.  Let's get ready.  You don't want to be late for your own party, do ya?"


	4. Back to Sunnydale

_I do not own any of the characters EXCEPT for Celeste.  She is mine so please do not take her.  Thank you for all of the reviews because I really enjoy and appreciate them.  Catch ya on the flipside!_

Back to Sunnydale

Faith stepped out of the car, adjusting her backpack nervously.  Even though she had not been to this place in five years, it was still the same.  It looked the same.  It even felt the same.  Memories floated back to her but she pushed past them, not wanting to think about what she had _done here._

She stared at the house in front of her, taking in the quiet charm of the old house.  It was small, only one story, and made of red brick.  A white picket fence surrounded the green yard, and flowers decorated the edges of the house.  It was a house right out of a story.

_This isn't where I belong, she thought as she stood in the driveway long after the car that had dropped her off left.  __It's too wholesome, too clean.  My life is too fucked up to live in a place like this._

She started backing away to run away from this place, this safety, when the front door opened.  A woman, barely taller than her, walked out.  Her black hair cascaded halfway down her back and Faith was shocked to notice that reddish streaks tinted it.  _Who the hell is this lady?  If anything, I thought that my watcher would be there but that's obviously not true.  What kind of watcher has streaked hair anyway?_

"You must be Faith," the woman stated, her voice slightly rough.  She stepped forward, her eyes a surprising shade of green as she walked towards Faith.

Memories hit Faith suddenly, leaving her slightly overwhelmed.

_"Ahh, and this must be Faith," said the suited man.  Faith gave him the one over, her brow raised as she took in everything from his slicked back hair, his neatly pressed suit, and his smug expression.  She glanced over at Buffy and Giles, who were both looking at the man in distain._

_"New watcher?"_

_"New watcher."  They replied in unison, voices exasperation._

_Faith rolled her eyes.  "Screw that."_

_With that she turned and walked out, smirking as she saw the smile leave the watcher's face.  She almost started laughing as she heard Buffy say, "Now why didn't I just do that?"_

Faith blinked, suddenly brought back to the present as the woman approached her.  Realizing she never answered the woman she said,

"Yeah, I'm Faith.  What's it to you?"

Faith stared at the woman, almost daring her say something.  She had to show this front – she had to show that she was the Slayer and nothing could intimidate her.

But the woman, to her credit, did not even flinch at the glare she was getting from Faith.  She'd heard all about her – her dabble with evil, her destructive past, her eventual breakdown – and she was not about to let some act best her.  "I am Celeste Clarkson, your new watcher."

Celeste noted with amusement that Faith's eyes widened in shock as she glanced the watcher up and down.

"No way," Faith said, hands on hips.  "You're not _even stuffy enough to be a watcher.  All the watchers are into tweed and tea and shit like that."_

Celeste arched en eyebrow at Faith.  "For someone who has only met two watchers in her entire lifetime, you seem to be pretty sure about that.  Why don't you come in so we can talk for a little bit, maybe have some tea?"

Celeste turned around, not even giving Faith the chance to answer.  Faith stared at her, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep her surprise hidden.  _What crap is this?  I know B said that my watcher was different but no one can this be her.  She's too…too…too not stuffy and boring!_

She stood there in indecision, watching the woman walk to the front door.  Celeste turned around, smiling wryly as Faith stood in the driveway.  "Coming Faith?  Or do you want to spend the entire day out on my driveway?"

_Aww, hell with it, Faith thought as she started towards the door.  __Might as well.  Worst that can happen is that she can turn out to be some psycho-watcher that wants the power of a damn glove so she can take over the world.  I think that I can handle that._

As Faith got to the door, a rush of pain suddenly overtook her.  She gasped as she faltered, not even noticing Celeste jump out to stop her from falling.  Suddenly, she was falling into the darkness.  It was rushing around.  Stars blocked her vision as her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

_Faith blinked, trying to clear her vision as she looked around.  Silence filled the room as she recognized where she was.  Buffy's house.  The cute little family room with the tv and the coach by the window.  The stairs across from the door with the pictures lining the staircase.  The dining room, with its long wooden table.  It looked exactly as she remembered it._

_But it was different.  There were no voices here, no laughter.  Dust covered every surface.  She idly ran her fingers over the dining room table, leaving a streak of finger marks.  *What is going on here?*_

_A burst of distant laughter caused her to spin around, her boots clanking the ground harshly.  The sound of her boots echoed through the house, but the laughter continued.  Faith started up the steps, craning her neck to see the top.  The laughter grew louder the closer she got, but she could not recognize it._

_As she got to the top of the stairs, she slowly turned into a familiar room.  Buffy's room.  The scent of vanilla almost overpowered her as she walked in.  The laughter stopped abruptly as the two girls in the room turned to face her._

_"Who are you?" Faith asked, staring at them.  A tall, lanky girl with brown hair pushed her ornate hat back to get a better look at her._

_"Don't you remember?" she said.  "Look at the time."_

_Faith glanced over at the clock, frowning as the numbers flashed 0:00.  *Is it suppose to do that?*_

_"That's not right," she said, turning back to the girl.  "That time is wrong."_

_The other girl, the blonde, shook her head.  "That time is right.  But if you want you can change it.  Maybe you'll like it better than."_

_Faith nodded, slowly walking over to the clock.  The laughter started once again and she paused, turning back to the girls.  They were oblivious to her as they continued with their tea party._

_"I don't think she understands, __Tara__," the brown haired girl said as she picked up a stuffed animal lizard and stared at it.  She turned to __Tara__, handing her the lizard.  "I don't think she'll ever understand."_

_Tara__ smiled, accepting the lizard.  "Don't worry, Dawnie.  She will.  She's just like this lizard, this chameleon.  Hiding behind her skin.  But she can't hide forever ya know.  They'll come, whether she's ready or not."_

_Faith watched in fascination as the animal changed from a stuffed lizard to cute little cat.  She reached out to touch it when suddenly, Dawn grabbed it back._

_"They'll come," Dawn hissed, clenching the animal.  "And they'll kill you."_

_Claws protruded from her fingers, digging into the stomach of the cat.  She laughed, a cold harsh laugh, as Faith gasped, grabbing her suddenly bleeding stomach in pain.  She looked down, fear filling her she saw the knife digging into her stomach.  She fell to the ground, gasping for air.  Before she passed out, she turned to stare at the clock watching in amazement as the numbers spun backwards.  Blackness overtook her when suddenly…_

_There was music.  Slowly, Faith opened her eyes.  Confusion filled her as she slowly sat up from the coach she was laying on.  She looked around as people walked all around, talking and laughing._

_"What am I doing here?" she whispered as she stood up.  "How long as this been here?  I thought they closed this eons ago."_

_She started to walk around, not watching at all where she was going.  She watched the band playing, the dancing couples, the people drinking at the bar.  It all seemed so familiar and yet it seemed – _

_Wrong._

_It was wrong.  Something wasn't right here.  There was – _

_*Faith*_

_Faith spun around, stake in hand as she heard the whisper, almost as if someone was caressing her voice.  She squinted her eyes as she stared at the crowd in front of her, searching for the voice._

_A familiar blonde head passed her by and she followed it, trying to keep up with the petite blonde.  "B!  Wait up!"_

_Buffy turned around, head tilted as she looked at her.  "Slayer.  Surprised to see you here?"_

_"I come around, sometimes.  Like to check out the scenery."  Faith shrugged._

_As Buffy nodded, arms encircled her waist.  Buffy smiled as she turned to the person holding her, running a hand down his smooth face.  She turned back to Faith but the person did not let go of her.  "I know what you mean.  I come here, really to watch them."_

_"You have to watch them, Faith.  Ya never know when they might be coming."_

_Faith nodded, looking at the man holding Buffy.  She took in everything, his tall and lanky form, his wild bush of brown hair, his blue eyes.  "You should be careful of him.  Ya don't know when he's going to bite."_

_"Him?" Buffy said, laughing.  "He's not like that.  He just wants to play."_

_The man started kissing her neck, slow, light kisses that made Buffy start to laugh.  His hands slowly started up her shirt.  Suddenly, Buffy stopped laughing.  She turned to Faith, not even noticing the man._

_"Who are you?"_

_Faith stared at her.  "I'm Faith."_

_"No.  Who are you?"_

_"B, it's me.  Faith."_

_Buffy stamped her foot, her eyes filling with anger.  "Dammit all!  Who the hell are you?"_

_"I'm FAITH!"  she yelled at, her own anger rising as she glared at the blonde.  Suddenly, in a movement that Faith could not even see, Buffy was standing inches away from her, her eyes bright red._

_"That's not who you are, Slayer," Buffy sneered.  "You don't even know who you are.  You don't even know what you are.  You aren't Faith.  You are the Slayer.  The Slayer, goddammit.  Get that through your head.  You're the Slayer – nothing more.  That's all you are."_

_Faith stood there in shock, watching as Buffy sashayed back to the man.  She kissed him, running her hand through his hair.  As she watched them, she could hear Buffy's voice though her lips were otherwise occupied._

_"You don't know who you are. Ya gotta know who you are if you want to stop them – it's the only way.   C'mon, sis, tell me – WHO ARE YOU?"_

Faith woke up, gasping for breathe, her body trembling.  She started to calm herself down when a swishing sound broke her from her thoughts.  She turned around, almost falling of off of the coach as she did.

"How are you feeling?" Celeste asked quietly as she placed a glass of water and two Tylenols in front of Faith.  Concern was evident in the woman's eyes as she sat down in the chair across from Faith.

"I d-don't know." Faith said, suddenly stuttering.  "I don't know what happened.  And I had this dream…"

Her words died as she thought about her dream, trying to piece it together.  The two women sat there in silence, Celeste wanting to give her Slayer time to work things out.  

"Faith, when was the last time you had a prophetic dream?"

Faith stared up at her, her brow scrunched as she thought about the question.  "I don't remember.  When I first became a slayer, I think.  Scared the shit out of me.  And then, after I started working for the mayor, and I rarely got them after that.  And when I did, I didn't listen to them and tried to forget.  But I could never forget."

"But this wasn't a prophetic dream," Faith stated.  "They never hit me like that.  It was always fall asleep at night, have a dream, wake up and damn I'm nervous.  This wasn't right."

Celeste shook her head, thinking of what to say to her.  "It was a prophetic dream.  See, many of your slayers powers, such as the prophetic dream, lay dormant while you went against the cause.  They never really had a chance to fully blossom.  So now that you're back in Sunnydale, back in the town where you lost the cause, they dreams will come back."

Celeste stood up and walked to the window.  She stared out of it, blankly watching the street.  "They may hit you now at any time.  The Hellmouth is opening again and it is stronger than before.  Your dreams may come as frequently as every day or they may come every three weeks.  But they may hit you at any time."

"Your dreams are very important now, so you must pay attention to everything.  Think about it, analyze it, remember it.  We are in dangerous times, Faith, and you must be ready for it."

Faith nodded dumbly, trying to digest everything at once.  Not once did she think to question her Watcher – _My Watcher.  That's gonna take getting used to – There was a rightness about her, a goodness.  Something she had never felt with Gwen Post.  And, to a point, a connection that she never felt with Wesley or Giles.  She was __meant to have this watcher._

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.  Faith jumped a foot into the air.  Celeste turned towards her, trying in vain to suppress the grin fighting its way onto her face.  "That should be Oz."


	5. Rescue

_I don't own any of the characters in this fic  Joss Whedon owns everything Buffy and whoever created Blade owns everything relating to him.  Hope you enjoy this newest chapter!_

Rescue

Buffy rode on the back of the motorcycle, clinging to Blade's waist in order to stay on.  She sighed as they flew through town, whipping past people screaming obscenities at them.  Right now, it was not the time to care what other people thought.  They had to get to the Edgewood Towers or else his friend would die.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably, a hidden crossbow digging into her side.  _And to think; I could be at home, relaxing while watching tv.  Instead, I'm riding on the back of a motorcycle, going to a place infested with vampires, in order to save one person.  Oh, and did I mention that the world could end?  Yep, this definitely makes my day._

Suddenly, the Towers came into view.  Buffy stared at the enormity of them, gaping in awe.  Though she had passed by the skyscrapers in New York every single day, she had never taken the time to fully appreciate their grandness.  _Even though I am SO not going to appreciate them tonight, that's for sure._

Blade slowed the bike down as he steered into an alley on the side of the Towers.  He turned towards Buffy, satisfied when he did not see any fear on her face.  Just determination.  "This is where you get off."

"Do you know where he is?" she asked as she jumped off, rearranging her now wind-swept clothing.  Luckily, though, leather does not move much even after the ride that they had.

Blade shook his head, obviously frustrated by the lack of details.  "No.  But he should be coming for me, so just keep an eye out."

"Got it," she said as she walked to a window in the side of the building.  It was already slightly opened and with a quick push, she had opened it all the way.  She turned to him and nodded and with that, he gunned the engine and went around the corner.  Buffy winced as she heard the glass break, knowing that he was inside.

_This is it, she thought.  __There's no turning back._

She jumped into the window, landing quietly on the carpeted floor.  She almost reeled as she opened up her senses, for vampires literally crawled everywhere in this place.  _Yeesh.  And I thought the vamp population in Sunnydale was bad.  That's it.  I'm NEVER complaining about the vamps there again.  Demons, yes.  Vamps, no._

She crept through the building, thankful to the darkness and shadows that filled the place.  Suddenly, there was noise behind her.  She spun her, hand automatically going to her wrist.  From out of it, she pulled a long silver stake.  _Time to find out if these things really work – mine sure as hell don't._

She strained her ears, listening for the muffles of conversation that were behind the door.

"He's moving too fast, Frost.  We have to shoot at him or else we're all dead."

"…need him…."

"He's coming up the stairs…"

"Jesus…Lock……down…."

Buffy moved further into the shadows as she heard the groaning of metal.  _Aw crap.  They've closed all the exits!_

Suddenly the door flew open and Buffy found herself staring at a group of vampires.  For a minute they just stood there, staring at her in shock.  Then, the man in front smiled.

"And I thought we wouldn't get dinner tonight," he said.  "Didn't know we could order carryout."

He lunged at her but in the blink of an eye, Buffy whipped her hand forward and staked him, directly in the heart.  His features looked shocked as he slowly crumbled to dust.  She turned to look at the others, not even bothering to waste time with words.  She pulled her knife out and attacked them.  They went down one by one, each being beheaded smoothly.  When the last one was gone, she picked up a walkie-talkie that one had dropped.  She turned down the volume as she went in the door and up the stairs.  She looked around cautiously as she listened.

"Where is he?"

"Going up the stairs and – wait, lost it -   
  


"I got him!  Frost, he found the room."

"Good.  Make sure he doesn't get out.  We'll be there to intercept him."

Buffy's eyes widened as she realized the trap that he was walking into.  _Alright Buffy.  Think.  Use your skills.  Where is Blade?_

She stretched her abilities, frantically trying to find him.  No, nothing, nothing – he wasn't here….wait.  Wait.  He was there, on the fourth floor.  In a small room.  No windows, though.  _God, I have to get up there!_

She ran up the stairs, dropping the walkie-talkie on the ground as she did.  She pulled out her small crossbow, idly fingering the silver points at the ends of her arrows.  She reached the door to the fourth floor and opened it slowly, silently thanking God that the door did not make any noise.  She peeked into the hall, surprised to find that no one was out there.  She slowly walked down the hall, his "feel" getting greater with every step.

Suddenly, she heard a grunt of pain.  Followed by many more grunts.  Then a voice said, "I thought you'd be happy, reunited with your mother.  Instead you look like this."

_This is no time to worry about being sneaky.  Blade's going down if I don't help him NOW.  With that Buffy jumped into the open room, pulling out yet another crossbow.  She shot both of them at two of the men tazering blade and they went down, dead.  She blinked as she realized that they were human but sprung into action as one of the men came after her._

"Get her, now!"  
  


The men jumped at her, leaving Blade lying shaking on the floor.  She punched one in the face, while at the same time kicking another in the gut.  With a quick side kick, she knocked one away so hard that he hit the wall, slumping unconscious.  She grabbed two of them and knocked their heads together.  They went down, unconscious.  She ran over to Blade, grunting as she pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, ya big lug," she groaned.  "Could you stand to lose a pound or two?"

She started towards the door but was blocked by a man and a female.  She could heard others coming, their voices echoing through the stairwell.

"It was a nice attempt, but you failed," the male vampire hissed, narrowing his eyes at her.  "Blade isn't going anywhere."

Buffy smirked, slowly setting Blade on the ground.  She glanced down, noticing that his breathing was getting better.  "What, you think YOU can stop me?  I don't think so.  I've faced things that were much worse than you."

"Come on, _Frost.  Let's dance," she said cockily, a vision of Spike flashing in her head.  She grinned, her stance daring him to make the first move._

And he did.  He growled at her and stepped forward.  He punched her but she avoided the punch and kicked him the stomach, causing him to stumble back.  She took advantage and grabbed his shoulders, tossing him across the room as if he was a sack of potatoes.  He cursed as he landed on his desk, crushing it with his weight.  

Buffy grabbed Blade again and almost breathed a sigh of relief when she found that he could stand up on his own.  She helped him to the doorway, punching the woman there.  She fell heavily to the ground.  For a moment, Blade froze, indecision in his mind a she stared at his mother.  But he shook it away and followed Buffy.

She had heard them coming a mile away.  Vampires filed in the hallway, running after her and Blade.  So she did the first thing she could – she grabbed a chair that was sitting in the hall and threw it at the blackened window at the end of the hallway.  The glass shattered as the window broke.

She pushed Blade ahead of her and he jumped out the window, landing heavily on the ground four stories below.  Buffy turned around, smiling as Frost ran out of the room.  His cold eyes turned to her, staring daggers into her body.  "Catch ya on the flipside, Frost!"

She jumped out the window, free-falling to the ground below.  She landed on her feet and was immediately attacked by a blonde vampire.  Buffy stumbled as she was punched in the face but ducked the next punch.  She spun underneath it and kicked the vampire in the side.  The woman vampire fell but quickly got back up, circling Buffy like a lion circles its prey.  She attacked Buffy, but Buffy blocked the punches.  The woman surprised her by kicking her in the stomach but Buffy ignored the pain, instead back flipping, catching the woman's chin under her feet.  The woman fell backwards, her back hitting the ground.  Buffy pulled out a stake and without a second though, stabbed it through the vampire's chest.  The woman looked shocked, her eyes traveling up the building.

"Frost," she whispered before turning to dust.  Buffy glanced down the sidewalk and saw Blade leaning heavily against a black woman.  _That must be who he was looking for._

Buffy ran to him and the three jumped in a car that was parked in front of the building and, with the tires screeching, drove away.  Buffy never looked back, and therefore never saw the eyes that were watching her.  She never saw the anger that flit across Frost's face as she turned away from the window, his hands clenched in rage.

"Who is that bitch?" he screamed, his fists so tight that his hands started to bleed where his fingernails dug into the skin.  "And why the fuck didn't I know about her?"

He walked into his office, not even noticing that he was being avoided.  He walked to the remnants of his desk, grabbed his computer, and threw it against the wall.  Sparks shot out of the machine as it broke, shattering into thousands of pieces.  He started pacing, his anger mounting.  _You think it's over, don't you Blade?  You think you fuckin' won.  It's not over – hell, it's barely started now.  I will kill you.  And I will kill that little girl, the bitch who ruined my plans.  This isn't over.  Not at all. _


	6. Discoveries

_I still don't own anything except Celeste.  Sorry this one took a little longer but this weekend was very VERY busy!  Hope you like it!_

Discoveries

Faith froze as Celeste opened the door, greeting the person on the other side warmly.  Faith did not even hear the words they exchanged as she sat there, unsure of herself.  How could she react to him?  Last time she had seen him, she had been working against him, trying to kill him.  What would he think of her?

Oz walked in, his eyes resting on Faith almost immediately.  She looked away, squirming uncomfortably on the coach.  She never could read him.  She could tell what everyone else felt except for him.  He was a mystery to her.

_No, I have to be strong, self-confident. Faith though, reprimanding herself for her weakness.  __I have to be able to meet his eyes calmly and confidently._

She looked up, meeting his eyes squarely.  She pushed all of her doubts away, giving off the air that she was not to be messed with.

"Hey Faith," Oz said as he sat down in a chair, reaching for a bowl in front of him.  Pulling out a piece of candy, he raised an eyebrow at Faith.  "Chocolate?"

"W-what?" Faith asked, stuttering slightly.  _Damn it! She cursed, hoping he missed her brief stutter._

He paid no attention to it.  "Do you want some chocolate?  They're actually really good.  Rumor has it that Celeste makes them herself."

"Flatterer," Celeste called out, laughing as she sat down on the chair opposite from Oz.  She turned to Faith, a wry smile on her face.  "Be careful with this one.  He may look innocent on the outside but he's a beast inside."

"Well, in all technicality, that's true," Oz said calmly.  "Being up with the werewolf and all."

Celeste shook her head.  "One of these days you're going to drive me crazy."

Faith shifted uncomfortably, not used to the easy laughter that flowed between the two.  Celeste noticed it immediately and turned to look at her Slayer.  "Do you and Oz want to patrol tonight, so you can get reacquainted with the towns 'hot spots'?  With the increase in vampire activity, it is best that you start patrolling as soon as possible."

Faith started nodding but stopped suddenly as she heard everything.  "Wait, take Wolfboy out on patrol with me?  I patrol alone.  I don't have time to watch out for other people while I'm fighting."

"Faith, Oz is more than capable of taking care of himself.  He's been patrolling for the last couple of weeks while we waited for the final clearance from you," Celeste explained patiently.

Faith looked at him in surprise.  _He can handle the vamps by himself?  Shit, I sure missed a lot while I was in jail._

She didn't let her surprise show though, once again putting her guard back up.  "Fine.  He can patrol with me.  But if he gets himself killed, don't come crying to me about it."

Faith stood up abruptly, hitting the table lightly with her leg.  She paid no head to it though as she looked around.  "Have a decent place to work out in this place?  'Cause talking like this really isn't my thing."

Celeste nodded.  "Yeah, we had an area for you to train all set up in the basement.  Just go down the hall and at the very end is door to the basement.  There should be plenty for you to do there."

Faith nodded, briskly walking down the hall.  "Thanks Cel," she called as she opened the door to the basement and went down, closing the door sharply behind her.

Celeste sighed, turning to Oz.  "How do you think it went?"

"I think it went well," he said.  "On the plus, she seems completely sane."

"Oz," Celeste scolded softly, "I know you may remember her as slightly…off, but she has changed.  From the moment she let herself be put in prison, she has been on the road to recovery.  Slayers aren't supposed to be in enclosed places like that for long.  They need to be out, doing their work.  One reason that I know she really wanted to change was that she lasted in there so long.  Other Slayers like her would have gone insane if they weren't serious."

Oz leaned forward, staring at Celeste.  "I know.  I can tell.  She's doesn't have that lost look in her eyes anymore.  She even smells different, which is kind of odd."

Celeste smiled.  "I think that's the most you've ever said to me while still being serious."

"You need to help her, Oz.  She has a connection with you that I can't have with her.  You were there for some of her worst moments.  And yet, you're not treating her like she's a disease.  You're treating her like a human being, which is what she needs right now."

Oz nodded, though he said nothing.  For a moment silence passed between, a comfortable silence that passes between two people who both need time to think about situations.  Suddenly, a scream shot through the air.  Oz and Celeste looked at each other for a moment before the single word passed through her lips.

"Faith."

Both took off running down the hall, hurrying down the basement stairs.  Celeste got to the bottom first, looking around wildly for her Slayer.  Fear passed through her as Faith was nowhere to be seen.  Oz tapped her lightly on the shoulder and indicted for her to follow him.  She did so, not questioning him in the slightest.  He motioned towards the darkened corner of the room and Celeste walked forward.  There, sitting in the shadows, her arms curled tightly around her legs, was Faith.

"Faith," Celeste whispered softly, crouching down in front of her.  Faith said nothing, instead staring lifelessly passed Celeste.  Celeste laid her hand softly on Faith's shoulder.  Faith jumped, suddenly coming back to the present.  Her eyes welled with tears, not even caring that she was opening herself up to another person.

"It just appeared," Faith whispered.  "I didn't do it.  I didn't want it!  It just appeared and she was here.  And it was just like my dream."

"What appeared Faith?  Who was here?" Celeste asked.  Faith just shook her head, looking away from her Watcher.  Celeste gently pushed her head back up.  "Please tell me, Faith.  Please trust me."

Faith was silent for a moment before pointing towards the punching bag on the other side of the room.  Celeste glanced over for a moment and watched as Oz slowly picked a jagged knife off the ground.  He stared at it for a moment, his face passive.

"I was training and suddenly, she was there," Faith whispered hoarsely.  "She smiled at me, a cold, twisted smile, before pulling out the knife.  The same damn knife.  I thought that thing was gone.  Shit, I didn't want to see it again – I _couldn't see it again."_

"And then she attacked me.  I didn't even think – I just defended myself.  She kept trying to stab me, screaming at me, telling me I was useless.  And then…then I pushed her back and…I grabbed it."

Tears were streaming down her cheek as Faith stared at the knife.  "I stabbed her.  I fuckin' stabbed her.  But she didn't die.  She just laughed.  She told me that's just how I was.  A murderer.  A killer.  That's all I am – that's _who I am."_

Words were forgotten as she sobbed, pulling her legs tighter to her chest. Celeste pulled her forward, hugging her.  Faith gave into the hug, sobbing against her shoulder.  All of her pain, all of her fears were released as she cried.

As her sobs slowly began to subside, she started to pull away, to close herself.  But Celeste kept a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Faith, listen to me.  That is not who you are.  You are a strong, emotional woman who lost control.  You made mistakes but you're willing to fix them.  Do you know have brave that is?  Do you know how very few people do that?  You have to remember who you are – not what you did."

"I don't know who I am," Faith admitted quietly, staring down at the ground.  "I don't remember that girl anymore.  And I don't think I can."

"We'll help you," Oz said unexpectedly, causing both to jump up and look at him.  "I know what it's like, to not know who you are.  I've been through it.  I lost a person that I love because of it.  But you can find who you are.  It'll be hard but you can do it."

"Thank you," Faith said a small smile on her face.  "Thank you Oz."

He nodded.  "Hey, no problem."

Celeste smiled at both of them, slowly standing up.  "Do you want to train some more Faith?  Or do you want to take a break?"

"I want to train more," Faith said, slowly getting up on slightly shaking legs.  "It's been so fuckin' long since I could work out like this.  Don't wanna miss some chance just because of some bad dreams."

"It's not dreams, Faith," Celeste said seriously.  "That's the Hellmouth at work.  It's trying to scare you away, trying to destroy you.  You have to be careful."

"It takes more than just a few visions to destroy me."

Celeste nodded and Faith started walking back over to the punching bag before freezing.  She turned around, confusion on her face.  "Wait – Oz is going out with me tonight?  To patrol?"

"Yes," Celeste said, surprised by the sudden question.

"But there's a full moon.  Isn't he going to go all WolfBoy on me?"

Celeste and Oz shared a smile before turning back to Faith.  "Sounds like we have a story for you."


	7. Patrol

_Once again, I do not own any of the characters.  Joss Whedon owns all of them in this chapter.  Hope you guys enjoy.  And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for reviewing the story!  I love the feedback.  Catch ya on the flipside!_

Patrol

The full moon shone down on the ground below, stars twinkling in the background.  The night air was cool as it whipped through the silence of the cemetery.  Not a sound was heard, not even the sound of the nightly crickets.  This was a place reeking of death – both of the dead and the undead.  

Faith crept through it, Oz close behind her.  Neither of them uttered a word and their footsteps were soundless.  For a person who had not patrolled in a few years, Faith was as stealthy as ever.  Even more so.  There used to be a time when she didn't care about being quiet.  When the fight was the only thing that mattered.

But that had changed.  

Now, she was the protector of the city.  There was no more Buffy here to cover up when Faith slacked off.  No, she was the only one.  And she had to do everything possible to protect herself and others.

They stopped suddenly in front of a newly dug grave.  Faith turned to Oz, her eyebrow raised.  "Is this the one?"

Oz nodded as he looked at the name.  He said nothing and his silence slightly unnerved Faith.  She had never known about the quiet guitar player, only that he had loved Willow.  But other than that…she didn't know him.

Faith sighed as she leaned against a headstone, waiting for the vampire to rise.  She looked up at the sky, enjoying the sight of the stars and moon.  _It's the first time I've actually paid attention to the stars.  They're a helluva lot more beautiful than I remember.  Maybe I just never cared – I was too busy going through my screwed up life to care._

"How long do you think it'll be before he rises?"

Faith jumped, pulled out of her thoughts at Oz's words.  She sat in silence before the question finally registered in her mind.  She shrugged.  "Dunno.  Could be a couple minutes, could be a couple hours.  I have nothing else to do tonight."

"Do you miss her?"  Faith asked suddenly, turning to Oz.  Oz stared at her, not answering.  "Do you miss Willow?"

Oz was silent for a moment.  "Yeah, I do.  Everyday.  Sometimes I think I could have saved her.  But I wasn't part of her life anymore.  Our time together was over and done with.  But still…I miss her."

"Do you know how they died?"  Faith asked quietly, eyes curious.  "B never told me.  Figured it was best not to ask, with all the shit she's dealt with."

Oz shook his head.  "She never said how.  And I didn't ask.  If I really want to know I could look it up but right now, that's not important."

Faith looked down, idly playing with a stake she had pulled from her sleeve, and said slowly, "Do you know where B is?  She never told me where she was going."

"I think she needs to be that way," Oz said.  "She needs to be on her own for awhile, in a place where she doesn't have any connections to anyone else.  She's hurt, Faith, more than I've ever seen before.  She needs to be distanced for awhile."

Faith nodded, falling back into her thoughts once more.  But before she could go too far, a vampire jumped out of the bushes, snarling as he leapt for her.  She jumped into action, springing forward into a jump kick.  The vampire stumbled back, only to be knocked down by a half-morphed Oz.  Faith stood in stunned silence for a moment before stepping forward to help him.

But at that moment, a hand sprung up from the fresh grave and grabbed her around the ankle.  

"Dammit!" Faith swore as she hit the ground, kicking her other leg back.  The hand let go of her and a moment later the new vampire stumbled out of his grave, spraying dirt everywhere.  Faith spared a brief glance for Oz but once she saw that he was faring alright, she turned back to the vampire in front of her.

"Didn't know they brought your first meal to you," the vamp growled, snapping at her.  Faith rolled her eyes.

"You're either an idiot or…no, you're just an idiot."

The vampire growled and lunged for her.  Faith leapt forward to meet him, spinning into a butterfly kick.  He went down, hard.  She didn't let him recover, though, instead grabbing the stake she had dropped and bringing it down into her heart.

As soon as the stake hit his heart, Faith watched in horror as it changed into someone different.  He was familiar, with his nervous and pain filled eyes and his suit.  It was the helper of the Mayor.  The first person she had killed.

"Fuck," Faith whispered, staring down at him.  Blood starting flowing from the wound, covering the ground around her.  "God, no!"

Faith pulled the stake out, trying to cover the wound with her hands.  It only resulted in the blood flowing on her hands, dirtying her skin.  The man opened his mouth to talk but blood dripped from the side of his mouth.

"Help me…"

Faith stared at him, old fears suddenly overtaking her.  She couldn't control herself, couldn't stop herself.  She had killed someone.  KILLED.  She could never be forgiven from that.  Not – 

The body disappeared in a cloud of ashes, leaving no trace of the blood behind.  Faith looked at her hands and was shocked to see nothing was there.  No blood, no nothing.  Just a few ashes lying on the ground.

Faith pulled herself out of her shock and turned just in time to see Oz put a stake in the heart of the other vampire.  She watched, once again, as the body changed.  Oz lost his wolf form, his hands trembling as he held the person in front of him.

"Oz?  Baby?"  Willow asked, blood dripping down the front of her dress.  Her eyes were filled with pain and confusion as she slowly slipped to the ground.  Oz grabbed onto her, his form changing as he struggled to keep control.

"I thought you loved me," she whispered before turning into ashes.  Oz looked at the ashes in shock.  He once again gained complete control of his human form, his clothes in tatters around his body.  He looked at Faith and, in an unspoken agreement, the two turned and left the cemetery.

But before they left, Faith turned around and stared at the endless darkness.  "Ya think you can beat us that easily, you asshole?  We won't fall for your stupid tricks.  You don't know what you're up against – we will not let you beat us."

She turned around again and the two left the cemetery.  Neither of them noticed the ashes slowly rising in the arm, swirling around in a small whirlwind.  Neither of them saw the shadowy figure step away from a crypt and watch their retreating backs.

He beckoned towards the ashes and they flew to him.  The ashes landed in his hand and he put them in a small pouch around his waist.  Slime dripped from his clawed fingertips as he scratched them across the crypt.  His fanged mouth twisted into smirk as they disappeared from the cemetery.

"No.  _You don't know what you're up against.  Your world is coming to an end.  And you're not going to be ready for the final battle, Slayer."_


	8. Alone

_Wow, I still do NOT own any of the characters.  Darn.  Oh well.  Hope you like this part!  And thank you, once again, for all the reviews.  I love them!!!_

Alone

Buffy breathed heavily as she, Blade, and Karen burst into the warehouse, burdened down by an assortment of things.  Buffy's things, to be exact.  After screeching away from the Towers, they had made a quick stop at her apartment to grab the things she would need.  Then they had dropped the truck off and gone back to the warehouse.

Buffy rushed to the middle of the warehouse, setting up white candles in a circle around her.  One by one she lit them, taking slow, deep breathes.  _Concentrate, Buffy.  You can do this.  Just do exactly what __Willow__ taught you._

She pushed away any hurt she felt because of the mention of her best friend's name. She pulled ground lavender out of a bag and slowly poured it into the shape of a star with a circle surrounding it.  _The Pentagram._

Buffy closed her eyes while she extended her hands in front of her, palms facing up.  "I seek protection, Oh Lady, from those who mean harm.  Keep this place safe by your power."

Blade and Karen watched in confusion and awe as the candles surrounding Buffy magnified in intensity.  Buffy did not even pay attention but continued with the spell.

"Hear me!  Make this place free from harm.  By your will, so mote it be!"

Her voices echoed throughout the warehouse, bouncing on the walls until it finally disappeared.  A bright light appeared, starting first at her and then spreading until it filled ever crevice, no matter how small.  Blade and Karen shielded their eyes as the light intensified so much that it was impossible to look straight at it.

Suddenly, as quickly as it had come, the light disappeared.  Buffy lay on the ground in the circle, eyes closed.  The candles still burned, yet the flames were blue in color.  Blade walked forward to make sure she was alright, but stopped when she started to speak.

"No," she whispered, her voice hoarse.  "You can't break the circle.  The spell won't take its final effect if you break the circle."

Blade nodded curtly, acknowledging the words.  He backed up and turned to Karen, stumbling slightly as his injuries finally caught up to him.  She reached for him, helping him to regain his balance.  He shook his head, trying to cure his blurry vision.

"Serum," he whispered, his teeth clenched.  "I need my serum."

Karen nodded and ran over to the destroyed computers, carefully avoiding the circle.  She pushed the mess off of one of the desks and looked frantically through the drawers, searching for the serum.  Her search was interrupted by the sudden yell by Buffy.

"Get over here.  Now!" Buffy yelled, suddenly having the energy to sit up.  Blade and Karen walked forward, but did not penetrate the circle.  Buffy motioned for them to come in and they did, apprehensively.  She pulled out a long, curved knife and held it high in the air.

"From their blood, protection is granted!"

She slowly dragged the knife across her palm, wincing as it bit into her skin.  Blood pooled up slowly until she turned her palm, letting the blood drip on the pentagram.  She looked at the other two and both of them put their palms out.  Karen gasped in pain as the knife dug into her own palm.  She followed Buffy's lead and let her blood drip on the symbol.  Blade followed suit, though he paid no heed to the pain of the knife.  He simply stood there, allowing the knife to bite into his skin.

As his blood touched the symbol, the pentagram turned bright red in color.  It got increasingly redder until, in a gust of wind, it disappeared.  The candles extinguished themselves.

Blade backed out of the circle, the scent of the blood causing his bloodlust to rise even more.  He ran over to the destroyed desk and frantically searched through it as he slowly began to lose control of his human self.  The bloodlust rose to heights that he had started to forget about as he searched for his serum.

"What's wrong with him?" Buffy asked as she watched Blade scatter things everywhere.  Karen looked at her, giving her a sidelong glance.

"He needs his serum," she explained cautiously.  "He's part vampire – he needs blood."

Buffy nodded, her eyes glued to Blade.  Indecision filled her as she stared at his now shaking back.  _I have to do it.  He needs blood._

She walked forward, ignoring Karen's exclamation.  She felt a hand grab harshly onto her shoulder but she simply shrugged it off.  She grabbed Blade, pulling him away from the desk.  He pushed at her and she stumbled back but grabbed him again with great determination.

"Blade, listen to me," she ordered, her tone no-nonsense.  "Take my blood.  Bite me.  You need it."

"No," he whispered harshly, fighting the bloodlust.  "I can't."

"You have to.  You don't know where your serum is and you need blood.  Take mine."

He turned to her, staring directly in her eyes.  He tried to argue but the bloodlust was too much, his strength all but spent.  He saw the determination behind her eyes and somehow, he knew that she had been forced to do this before.  She would be able to take it.

Buffy gasped as his teeth slowly bit into her neck.  Her whole body stiffened as she felt the blood leaving her body.  But she refused to falter, instead putting every ounce of her strength into standing.

Blade pulled back suddenly.  Buffy swayed for a moment before murmuring, "God, I hate this part."  She fell to the ground, her eyes rolling back in her head.  She didn't even notice when Blade jumped forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

_Buffy sighed as she walked through the graveyard, idly twirling her stake.  Things were so hard after the…accident.  She couldn't concentrate, she felt lost all the time.  It would have been easier if Giles was there but he was gone.  Just like they were.  _

_"Buffy," a voice called, almost caressing her name.  She turned, stake raised but lowered it as a platinum blonde head came into view.  Spike.  She lowered the stake and gave him a small smile._

_"Hey," she said, her voice soft.  Spike walked up to her, concern evident in his eyes.  "Fancy meeting you here."_

_"I'm worried about you Buffy," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.  She tried to move away but his grip was too strong.  She stared into his eyes, watching as conflicting emotions ran through them.  Concern, worry, pain,…love.  Yes, he loved her though she could never love him back the same way.  He was a brother to her, someone who could protect her.  Someone who she could always go to._

_His arms encircled her and suddenly she was sobbing.  Tears she had held in for two weeks rolled down her cheeks as she slowly sank to the ground.  She cried into his chest, not even caring anymore.  All she could think about was how much it hurt, how much she missed them._

_"I miss them so much, Spike," Buffy sobbed.  "Why couldn't I save them?"_

_"Shhh, kitten," he whispered.  "Some things are just meant to happen.  Sometimes, you can't save everyone."_

_They sat there, on the ground of the cemetery, for hours.  Buffy just cried, finally releasing her pain.  She couldn't stop crying.  Memories came back to her, threatening to tear her apart.  She wasn't even able to say good-bye to Xander – he was dead before she woke up.  Dawn had managed to give her goodbyes, but even that was too brief.  __Willow__ – __Willow__ was alive the longest.  She managed to hold onto life longer than the other two.  But in the end, she had died._

_And there was Giles – she had never gotten the chance to tell him how much he meant to her.  How much of a father he was.  She had missed her chance and now, she could never tell him._

_Finally, her tears slowed down.  She looked up, a shaky smile on her face as she looked at Spike.   He gently brushed the hair off of her face._

_"Thank you, Spike," she said softly, still clutching his shirt.  "Thank you for being here."_

_He nodded.  "I will always be there for you, Slayer.  Always."_

_The two of them slowly stood up and started walking hand-in-hand out of the cemetery.  But because of their grief, neither of them noticed the man hiding in the bushes.  Neither of them noticed the crossbow he held in his hand._

_Spike turned around, a frown creasing his forehead.  He could sense something out there, something that wasn't right.  He took a step forward, dropping Buffy's hand.  She turned around, feeling her Slayer Sense prickling._

_"There's something here, pet," he said, craning his neck back and forth.  "There's something here that – "_

_His sentence was cut off as a crossbow bolt shot through the air, hitting him directly in his heart.  Buffy ran towards him, not even realizing that she was screaming his name.  Spike looked at her, one last time, his eyes bringing with love and sorrow._

_"I'm sorry, Buffy.  I love – "_

_He couldn't even finish his sentence as he disappeared into ashes.  Buffy stared at the falling ashes, shock on her face.  *He's gone.  Just like the others.  Gone.*_

_She turned around, her eyes hardening as she saw the bushes moving.  She leapt forward, just in time to land on a man who was trying to run away.  He looked at the Slayer coolly for a moment before he saw the malice behind her eyes.  His heart was gripped by fear as he watched her eyes grow cold._

_"Why?" she whispered, her eyes burning into him.  "Why did you kill him, you bastard?"_

_"He was evil," the man said, trying to free himself of the Slayer's grasp.  She only grasped him tighter, not caring when he let out a yelp of pain.  "He deserved to die."_

_Buffy laughed, a harsh, loud sound in the stillness of the night.  "Evil?  Who said he was evil?  He had a soul you asshole!  He had a soul!"_

_"He's a vampire.  All vampires deserve to die."_

_"Who the fuck sent you?  Who?" Buffy yelled the last word, her hand tightening even more.  The man lay there for a moment, refusing to say anything.  She tightened her grip again, a vice-like grip on his now feeling less arm._

_"The Council," he whispered, looking away.  "Quentin Travers."_

_Buffy pushed the man away, anger filling her even more.  "That bastard.  That fuckin' bastard!"_

_The man started to run away, turning his back on her.  But he couldn't run fast enough.  Buffy picked up his fallen crossbow and shot it.  The man howled in pain as he went down, a bolt sticking out of his lower thigh.  She walked forward menacingly, placing another bolt in the crossbow and firing.  He screamed again as this one shot in his arm.  He looked up at her, tears streaming down his face._

_"Please," he begged.  "Please don't kill me."_

_Buffy tilted her head as she watched the man squirm in pain.  She pointed the crossbow at him once more, aiming for his heart.  But she lowered it slowly her eyes colder than the man had ever seen._

_"I'm not going to kill you," she said, throwing the crossbow aside.  "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to help you."_

_She spun on her heel, leaving the hurt man lying on the ground.  He cried out to her but she paid no heed to it.  She just walked, ignoring the pleads of the man.  *I am alone.  I have no one.  Then again, the Slayer walks alone.  She always has in the past.  And now, she always will.  I am the Slayer.*_

Buffy gasped as she awoke.  She felt wetness on her face and she brushed her hand across it.  Salty tears came off her hands.  She stood up slowly, wincing at the stiffness.  She looked around but Blade was nowhere in site.  Only Karen was there.

"It's Karen, right?" Buffy asked.  Karen jumped in alarm and spun around.  She nodded at Buffy.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Where's Blade?"

Karen pointed towards the room that Buffy had been in earlier that evening.  Buffy nodded her thanks and started towards it, knowing that there were answers that she had to find and answers that she had to give.


	9. Explanations

_Disclaimer:  Still don't know anything.  This is kind of a slow chapter, since it is a "bridge" chapter basically.  But hope you enjoy anyway!_

Explanations

"You're a vampire."

Blade twisted around, watching as Buffy slowly sauntered into the room.  Her face was a mask, completely unreadable.  He did, however, glance at the slight tear marks that she had tried to rub away.  He stared at her neck, noticing that the bite marks were already scabbing over.

_What the fuck? He asked himself.  __What is this girl?_

"No shit," he said, staring at her.

"How?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe.  "You have a heartbeat, you can go out during the day.  How are you a vampire?"

"That's none of your fuckin' business," he muttered, standing up and walking towards her.  He tried to leave, but she blocked his exit.  "Get out of my way."

Buffy shook her head, her eyes cold as she glared at him.  "No."

He growled and attempted to get by her.  A moment later, he found himself being slammed into the wall on the other side of the door.  He looked at her in shock as he felt the strength and power in her.

"What are you?" he asked.

"I told you.  I'm the Slayer."  He opened his mouth to ask more questions but she quickly cut him off.  "No.  I just gave you my blood.  My freakin' blood.  So answer my questions first.  Then, I can answer yours."

They glared at each other for a moment before Blade nodded curtly.  She released him and backed up, each of them finding a place to sit.  Blade stared at her for a moment before sighing and looking out the window.

"Right before I was born, my mother was bitten by a vampire," he said, spitting out the last word.  "The changes began to take over her body before the doctors could get me.  So, I changed too.  Not like she did.  I took on the vampire qualities but kept many human ones.  I'm a half-breed.  The Daywalker."

"What happened to her?" Buffy asked quietly.  Silence greeted her as Blade stared out the window.  He didn't answer her question.  She nodded, understanding the silence.  So she changed the subject.  "Who was the man that was in here before….was Whistler his name?"

Blade nodded, still staring out the window.  "Yeah.  He was my helper against the vampires."

"I knew a guy named Whistler once," Buffy said, eyes distant.  "Not the same guy, but he had the same name.  I threatened to tear his ribcage out and wear it as a hat."

Blade looked at her, raising an eyebrow.  She shrugged.  "I was having a bad day."

An awkward silence once again filled the room as the two stared at each other, sizing the other up.  Buffy shifted slightly as she dropped her eyes.  She ran a hand across a small table, leaving finger prints behind.  She glanced up at him again, eyes filled with sympathy.

"I'm sorry about your friend," she said quietly.  "I know what it's like to lose friends."

Blade stiffened at the words but other than that, he made no reaction.  His defenses went up immediately, not wanting her to know how much it hurt.  He could not afford to let anyone else get close to him.

"Do you know how much shit you're in now, girl?" he asked, his voice raspy.  A fire lit in Buffy's eyes as she crossed her arms across her chest. 

"Obviously I don't.  Why don't you enlighten me."

He ignored the sarcastic tone in her voice.  He took a step forward, towering over her.  She craned her neck to stare in his eyes, not willing to back down.  "They'll be after you now.  Now that you've helped me.  You're a sitting duck to they're plans."

Buffy rolled her eyes.  "They'll be after me NOW?  Vampires have been after me for the last eight years or so.  And you're telling me that I can't stand up to them?  You don't know me – you don't know the crap I've been through.  I've been to hell and back – almost literally in a way.  And you're warning me?  Uh uh.  I don't think so."

"This isn't your fight," he hissed, his fists clenched at her attitude.  "This is my fight.  Got - "

"That's where you're wrong," she snapped back, cutting him off.  "I was chosen to fight against them.  It's my calling to fight against the demons, the vampires, and the monsters.  I've gotten the speech before, I've done the work before."

"I want to help you," she said, her voice not as sharp.  "You can't fight them alone, especially now that you're friend was killed.  Let me help you."

Blade stared down at her, though she met his gaze unflinchingly.  For a moment, there was a connection between the two.  They were both people with destinies.  Destinies whose paths traveled together.

Blade broke eye contact and the moment was over.  But something was changed between the two.  Something was different.  There was a sort of an understanding between the two – the understanding that only warriors who have suffered greatly can have.  He nodded as he walked towards his bed and sat on it.

"You can help," he said.  "But stay out of my shit.  There are some things that I have to deal with alone."

Buffy nodded, leaning against the door frame.  "Fair enough."

"How the fuck do you fight them?" he asked suddenly staring at her tiny frame.  "Where did your power come from?  'Cause you're a hell of a lot stronger than you look."

Buffy sighed, closing her eyes momentarily to collect her thoughts so she could put a cohesive explanation together.  Memories of the past came back to her but she pushed them away, telling herself that the girl it happened to doesn't exist anymore.  When she opened her eyes, Blade was surprised to see the pain that flowed through them, the anger.

"Every generation, a girl is chosen.  She alone stands against the demons, the monsters.  She is the Slayer," Buffy explained.  "That's what my first watcher told me.  To say I was confused was a hell of an understatement."

She grinned slightly.  "Back then I was a total valley girl, thinking about nothing but looks, who to date, and what to wear.  I was completely shallow and bitchy."

Blade grimaced at her description, glad that she had changed from the valley girl.  Buffy noticed the grimace and her grin widened.  "Sounds fun, huh?  But then things changed.  My first watcher came and introduced me to my calling – and to the demons I would have to hunt.  I almost got killed the first time I went out against a vampire.  But that's when I realized the amazing skill I had.  I was faster, stronger, more agile, and more powerful than any person I had ever met."

"And I could throw out one-liners like no other."

"I don't know where the powers really come from – all I know is that when the Slayer before was called, I was chosen.  And I've had the powers ever since."

Blade nodded at the story, sensing that there were things she was leaving out.  But he didn't say anything about that.  Sometimes you just had to have your secrets.  

"If we're working together, we might as well see our strengths and weaknesses," Buffy said suddenly, standing upright.  "Do you have anywhere where we can spar?"


	10. Deal with the Devil

_Disclaimer:  Dum da dum da dum.  __Nope, still don't own any of the characters.  Sigh.  Oh well.  Here's the next chapter – from this point on in the Buffy/Blade part of the story, the plot is going to get really interesting.  Hope you enjoy._

Deal with the Devil

Sparks shot out of the now-destroyed computer, a hissing noise emanating from it.  The once white floors and walls were covered in blood as it leaked from the dying humans.  But no noise was in the room.  No one could meet the eyes of the vampire pacing back and forth in the room.

He stopped in front of the computer, staring at it momentarily as he realized his plans were destroyed.  He kicked the computer, not even flinching at the pain.  He turned around, his eyes flashing.

"Why the fuck didn't I know about her," Frost growled dangerously, staring at the vampires avoiding his gaze.  "I thought I made it clear that I wanted to know everything about the Daywalker.  So where the fuck did the girl come from?"

Silence greeted his answer.  You could hear a pin drop, the silence was so strong.  No one wanted to answer him – they knew what would happen if they did.

The door slammed open, and the vampires jumped at the noise.  Only Frost remained unmoved, merely sliding his gaze towards the door.  His eyes narrowed further as he stared.

"Where is he?" the vampire asked, looking around.  "Where's Blade?"

Frost stared at him for a minute before leaping forward, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the wall.

"You're a fuckin' idiot, Quinn," Frost hissed, his fangs barred.  "Have you been paying attention at all to what's been happening here?  Do you even realize that Blade escaped just a couple minutes ago?  And where were you, huh?"

Quinn winced as Frost's nails dug into his throat.  "He escaped?  How?  The plan was…"

Frost laughed, letting go of Quinn suddenly.  "Plan?  What plan?  It's difficult to make a plan when you don't get all of the information."

Frost turned to stare at the others for a moment, watching as they shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.  Quinn stared at Frost, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"What are you talking about?  We had all the info, we had Blade.  What happened?  And where's Mercury?  Isn't she supposed to be watching the girl?"

Frost stiffened at the last words, his eyes ice cold as he turned to Quinn.  His face as blank of emotions, though, as he said, "Mercury is dead.  Turns out we got a new player.  A blonde haired bitch that helped Blade get away."

"She's dead?" Quinn asked incredulously.  "How can she be dead?  She's one of the best fighters we've got.  How could a girl have killed her?"

"I don't know," Frost hissed, his voice tight.  "And I still want to know why the _fuck I didn't know about her!"_

"She's new in the area.  Just moved here."

Eyes swiveled towards the doorway, where a man stood.  His eyes were almost black in color and were pinched maliciously around the edges.  His mouth was set in a firm line, with a small goatee underneath it.  A long, jagged scar ran across his forehead, winking wickedly from his balding head.

He wore simple clothes, but he carried himself with an air of supremacy.  It did not even seem to faze him that he was standing amidst dangerous creatures.

Frost stepped forward, looking the man up and down.  "And who the hell are you?"

The man shrugged.  "I have information that you might want.  Or need, actually."

Frost nodded skeptically.  "Uh-huh.  And right after my minions finish tearing you from limb to limb, you can tell me.  I'm not in the mood to deal with shit like you, human."

He raised his hand to motion to the others when the man's voice cut him off.

"She's dangerous, Buffy Summers is," he said.  "It'll take more than you're expecting to take down the Slayer."

Frost froze at those words, eyes riveting on the man.  He stepped forward, his cold eyes boring into the man's.  "The Slayer?  That's merely a myth, made to scare vampires.  The bitch isn't real."

"I assure you, Mr. Frost, that she is indeed real and very much of a nuisance."  The man said, his accent clipping his voice.  "I have tried many times to rid myself of her but nothing has worked thus far.  But maybe now, her time has come."

"I have a wealth of information on the girl that I would be willing to give you, free of charge," the man said, walking slowly around the room, staring at the damage.  "And from what I see here, it looks like you need just a little bit of help with her."

"And why are you willing to help me?" Frost asked.  "Why should I trust you?"

The man stopped walking, his eyes freezing Frost in his spot.  "That girl ruined everything for me.  If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have to resort to dealing with vampires.  She destroyed everything I worked for.  I want her dead."

"Besides, right now, I'm the only means of information you have.  Killing me now would not be in your best interest."

Frost stared at the man, not liking him at all.  Every inch of the man screamed of want for power.  But for some reason, Frost did not feel the urge to torture and kill him.  

"Fine," Frost decided.  "You can stick around for a little while, old man.  But don't get comfortable.  One wrong piece of information and you'll be fuckin' dead."

"I have no worries about my information, Mr. Frost," the man said, a small twisted smirk appearing on his face.  "It is very factual."

Frost nodded.  "Uh huh.  So what do they call you?  Or do we just have to stick with human?"

"Quentin Travers," he said.  "At your service."


	11. Realizations

_Disclaimer:  Nope, still don't own anything but Celeste.  Enjoy!_

Realizations

Celeste jumped as the door slammed, causing her to spin around in surprise.  She smiled, shaking her head as Faith and Ox walked in, neither noticing her.  "You both know how to give a woman a heart att – "

Her voice died away abruptly as they both looked up at her, conflicting emotions swimming in their eyes.  She put down the book she was holding and rushed over to them, concern written all over her features.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice calm but a hint of urgency in it.  "Did you run into something on patrol?"

Neither of them answered at first, both too shaken up by their experiences in the graveyard.  Celeste did not push, though.  She instead led them both to the couch, giving them time to think of what they were going to say.  She sat down in a chair across from them, leaning forward slightly.

"What happened?" she asked again, her voice soft.  Faith and Oz glanced at each other for a minute before Faith turned to look at her Watcher.

"Two vamps attacked us," Faith started slowly, dropping her eyes.  She reached forward and grabbed a glass from the table, idly playing with it.  "Figured it was the typical fight and dust.  But when I staked one of them, it changed."

Faith stopped talking abruptly as her voice caught in her throat.  Celeste said nothing, giving her time to collect herself.  Faith looked up again.  Celeste was surprised to see tears slowly glassing over her eyes.

"It turned into Allan, the mayor's secretary," Faith said quietly.  "He was bleeding and fuck, there was so much blood and it was all over my hands.  And then he turned to ashes and the blood was gone."

"Mine did the same thing – except it turned into Willow."

Celeste stared at the two in shock, taking a deep breath to calm herself.  Faith clenched her fist, not even noticing when the glass broke and shards of it cut into her skin.

"Faith…" Celeste started but was cut off as Faith stood up, her knuckles white from the strain.

"Someone's playing with us," she muttered, beginning to pace around the room.  "Someone's fuckin' playing with us.  The bastard.  It's all just a fuckin' game to him."

"Faith, calm down."

Faith turned to her, eyes flashing in anger.  For a moment, Celeste could see a darkness brimming deep within the Slayer's eyes, pulsing to be let out.  For that moment, a wild look seemed to overtake Faith.  

"No," Faith hissed, clenching her teeth.  "No!  There is no calming down.  I will not let some bastard play me like this, reminding me of what I did.  Fuck that.  I won't."

She stared at her watcher through narrowed eyes, daring her to say something. Celeste stood up to her full height and walked over to Faith.  Celeste met Faith's gaze fully, not backing down one bit.

"You will calm down, Faith," Celeste said, her voice firm.  "You have to.  If you want to find out who is doing this, you need to calm yourself and sit down.  Yes, someone is playing with you.  They're evil – they want to do everything they can to undermine your strength and abilities.  You have to let yourself accept this and calm down.  Tearing up your hands with glass will not help you accomplish that."

Faith looked down at her hands for the first time, noticing in surprise the blood that slowly started trickling down her wrists.  She unclenched her fists, wincing as the glass tore into her flesh.  She looked at her watcher again, the wild look dissolving from her face.  The darkness vanished in her eyes vanished, leaving a lost girl desperately trying to control her anger and fear.

"Yeah," Faith said softly.  "You're right.  I need to get the better of this bitch.  I can't do that with torn hands, can I?"

Celeste's face softened as she shook her head, inspecting the Slayer's hands carefully.  She opened her mouth to give directions when suddenly, a loud bang caused all of them to jump.  Faith immediately fell into a defense stance, reaching for the stake hidden in her coat sleeve.  She winced as her hands brushed roughly against the material of her jacket.

"Oops."

Celeste smiled at the voice, visibly relaxing as she walked towards the stairs leading to the attic.  A young man stood there, burdened down by books, another book laying at his feet the obvious cause of the noise.  He grinned sheepishly as she picked the book up.

"Next time, call us when you need help."

He nodded and walked towards the table, barely able to see over the stack of books.  He carefully put them on the table, glancing up at Faith for the first time.  He was momentarily surprised to see her but quickly caught himself.

"Hey Faith," he said.  "H-how are you?"

Faith stared at him for a moment, a vague sense of familiarity coming over her.  An image of a younger, more insecure high schooler came to mind, as did the name Buffy had give to her just a short while ago.

"Jonathan?" she asked, tilting her head slightly in question.  He nodded and gave her a smile as he sat down on the couch.  Celeste walked over to Faith, carrying bandages in her hand.  Slowly and painstakingly, with a few curses from Faith, Celeste got rid of the glass pieces from her skin and bandaged Faith's hands.

When she finished, Celeste sat back down on the chair.  Faith stood by the couch for a moment, suddenly feeling out of place.  Oz, Jonathan, and Celeste seemed completely at ease with each other, an easy chemistry in them.  Faith felt like an outsider, watching something she could never be part of.

Jonathan seemed to sense her discomfort.  He moved closer to Oz, giving her room to sit down the couch.  She smiled her thanks and sat next to them, leaving a visible amount of space between them.

"So, what's the sitch?" Faith asked, motioning towards the books.  "Do we know what demony thing is the cause of this?  Or is it just another case of the Hellmouth?"

"At this point, we're not sure yet," Celeste explained.  "We only know a few things about whatever evil is at work and even those things we're not sure about.  From your dream, Faith, it seems there is a possibility this demon might have claws.  Also, it seems to be able to change the forms of other beings, like the vampires did tonight."

"So, research party?" Oz asked.  Celeste nodded.

"Exactly.  We'll start with these books and if we still can't find any information, there are more in the attic."

With that, each grabbed and book and started to look for anything that could connect them to the demon that was causing problems.  All that was heard in the room was the quiet ticking of the clock and the continuing turning of pages.

"I found something!" Jonathan exclaimed, breaking the silence of the room.  He put the book on the table so everyone could view it.  "It's a demon c-called Ransofor.  Um, it can change the form of both himself and other creatures.  The demons are extremely rare and few, though each one is extremely dangerous."

Jonathan looked up at the others, looking at them nervously.  "T-They use magic.  Dark Magic.  Demons fear them, because of how far they've gone into the Black Magics."

Celeste sat back in her chair, contemplating the information that they had just found.  Faith looked at her watcher expectantly, waiting for a response.  Faith jumped as she heard a noise from the kitchen.

"Sorry I took so long.  We were out of Doritos, so I had to make salsa for the Tostitos.  I made it a little spicier than usual – I think I might have put in a little too much hot sauce.  But it's a newer recipe too, so that could be it and – AHH!"

The floppy-eared demon gave a yelp of surprise as Faith leapt at him, grabbing a knife from a nearby table.  As Faith jumped forward, she vaguely heard Celeste calling after her name.  She plunged the knife at him but before it touched flesh, she was shoved hard to the ground.

"What the hell was that for?" Faith yelled in frustration as the demon cowered behind a partially morphed Oz.  "And why the fuck are you protecting a demon?"

"Clem helps us out, Faith," Celeste said, walking over.  She smiled at Clem, and he visibly relaxed.  "He's one of our links to the demon world.  He can usually tell us what new demons are in town and things like that."

"But he's a demon," Faith said, unsure of herself.  "That means he's evil."

Clem shook his head, his ears waving back and forth.  "We floppy-eared aren't evil.  In fact, we don't even like to fight that much.  There's a just a few every now and then who get bad genes and cause a little bit of trouble."

"There are some demons that are not evil," Celeste said, walking over to Clem and putting a hand on his shoulder.  "Clem, for instance, is not evil.  There are many demons that do have a choice in whether or not they want to be evil.  Most choose to be so but there are others that choose not to.  It's all their decision."

"They choose to be evil?  Just like a person can choose to be evil?"

"Well, not all, but some," Celeste explained.  Faith nodded, thoughts of her own decisions coming to her head.  Celeste realized her Slayer needed time to think and grabbed the Tostitos from Clem's hand.  "So, let's try some of that salsa, shall we?"

As Clem, Celeste, and Oz walked back to the couch, Faith stood there alone.  _He chooses to be good.  He could be evil, but he chose not to.  If demons can decide what they want to be, maybe I can to.  Maybe I can make up for what I've done and choose to be good._

_Authors Note:  ***grins*** Bet you weren't expecting Clem to show up, huh?  Well, since I was very upset for no more Clem this season, I decided he would work perfectly in this story.  As would Jonathan.  Grrr to Joss Whendon and the rest of the writers for abandoning poor Jonathan and Clem.  Anyway, I will probably be updating more often now (YEAH!) since finals are now done and I'm on break (DOUBLE YEAH!)  Oh, and once again, thanks to EVERYONE who has reviewed my stories._

_For confused:  Travers is, well in my story was, the head of the Watchers Council.  He and Buffy never really got along that well._

_Jane McCartney:  Even though Xander, Willow, and Dawn are dead doesn't mean they're out of the count ;)_

_Jammies2002 and jedi-jainafel:  You'll have to see what happens to Travers – he's just started with Buffy._

_And for everyone else who reviewed but didn't have any questions:  THANK YOU!!!!  I really appreciate reviews because I know that people enjoy my stories.  I think that's it for now, so catch ya on the flipside!_


	12. Slayer vs Daywalker

_Disclaimer:  I own nothing.  Sucks, doesn't it?  Here's the big chapter – Buffy vs. Blade!  Hope y'all enjoy!_

Slayer vs. Daywalker

Buffy followed Blade into the large room, surveying its contents quickly.  A large mat took up a large portion of the floor, the only part uncovered was an area filled with racks and racks of weapons.  A small shelf stood in one of the corners of the room, an array of first aid products filling its shelves.  The walls, vacant of any windows, were a lifeless gray.  A fluorescent light filled the room, giving off a harsh glare.

"Nice décor.  It gives the place a homey feel," Buffy commented.  Blade glared at her briefly before walking over to the weapons racks.  He started to pick up one of the knives but stopped short as Buffy started talking.  "Do we really need weapons for this?"

As the words left her lips, a sudden memory hit her hard and she almost reeled back from the impact.  Memories of a fateful night, years ago.  Her first real glimpse of a vampire that would become a large part of her life.

"Do we really need weapons for this?" Buffy asked coldly as she gripped the ax in her hand.  The vampire with a shock of peroxide blonde hair – Spike – stared back at her.

A slow, twisted smirk crossed his face as he almost caressed the weapon he carried.  "I just like them.  They make me feel all manly."

Buffy shook her head, clearing her mind of any memories as Blade walked away from the weapons rack and onto the matted floor.  She walked towards him, pushing any thoughts of her past to the back of her head, determined to concentrate only on the fight.

"Are you ready, blondie?" Blade asked, slowly started to circle her.  Buffy raised her eyebrow at the name, watching him carefully as he circled her, never taking his eyes away from him.

"Blondie?" she asked.  "Nice nickname.  You'll regret calling me that later though, since I do prefer to be called by my real name."

"Whatever you say," Blade said. "So are you ready?  Or do you just want to stand there all night."

"Bring it on – I can handle whatever you throw my way," she taunted, arms outstretched before her, beckoning him to fight.

A low grumble from deep within his throat came out as he lunged at her, fists outstretched.  She ducked under him, taking advantage of her size to dodge his waving fists.  She fell to the ground, sweeping his feet out from under him.  He went down, but rolled away as she lunged towards him.

He stood up, warily this time as he watched her.  Both leapt at each other at the same time, each landing hits.  Buffy winced as his boot met her ribs but continued on with her uppercut.  His head flew back and he emitted a grunt of pain.  Both recovered quickly, though, and Blade was able to block the punches that Buffy threw at him.

Unexpectedly, Buffy jumped forward in a swift butterfly kick, knocking Blade back.  She kept moving forward in an array of kicks, grinning at the look of surprise on his face.

"And here I thought you would be a challenge," she said, feigning a yawn as she went into a round kick to his head.  "Guess the Daywalker isn't what everyone thought."

He blocked the kick, grabbing her leg as he did.  With a twist of his arm, Buffy whirled in a circle and landed on her back on the ground.  Before she had a chance to move, he knelt down besides her and grabbed her throat in a vise-like grip.  "What makes you think I was actually trying?"

Her only answer was a wry smile as she swung her legs around, hitting him in the back of the head.  His grip loosened slightly, giving Buffy all the room she needed to grab his wrist and swing him to the ground.  She flipped up, falling into a defensive stance as he slowly stood up.

"So you're the Slayer?" he asked, jumping into a tornado kick.  "Does it usually take you this fuckin' long to kill your enemies?"

She ducked under his kick, punching him with a quick jab in the abdomen.  "Not always.  Sometimes I just like to play before I kill them."

She swung at him with a cross, but he saw the movement.  In a blink of an eye, he grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her.  She winced in pain, but elbowed him in the gut with her free arm.  As he grunted and twisted forward, she head butted him and was free of his grip.

She hopped jauntily, shifting her weight from foot to foot.  "What's wrong Blade?  Getting tired?  Didn't know half-vamps got winded so easily."

"Don't worry.  I've already got my second wind."

Both jumped at each other and the met in the air.  Buffy feigned a hit with her right knee, bringing her left leg up in a kick at the last minute.  Blade blocked her knee and punched forward, once again hitting her in the jaw.  Both hit the ground, but able to keep their balance.

No more words were spoken between the two as they continued their mock-fight.  Blade punched forward in a series of jabs, crosses, and hooks, using his size to push her back, closer to the wall.  Buffy blocked most of the punches, though a few did slip through her defenses.  She felt the wall getting closer as she continued blocking the punches.  When the wall was only a foot away from her back, she suddenly jumped towards it, using it as a jumping off point.  Literally.

As her one leg absorbed the momentum of her jump, she kicked forward with her other leg and caught Blade across the jaw.  He stumbled back, only to be met with a quick sidekick.  His arm went forward in an outer block, his arm getting the brunt of the force.  

Buffy continued forward, kicking towards his neck with a swift whip kick.  He blocked the kick, though, and punched forward with a right hook.  She blocked his hook and suddenly flipped over him.  He spun around, only to be met with a strong cross to his nose.

As he wiped away the drops of blood that fell from his now-bleeding nose, he went down and swept her legs out from under her, using her own move against her.  She hit the ground, gasping as the wind was knocked out of her.  Blade took advantage of it and lunged towards her.  But even though she could not take a deep breathe, she saw him coming.  As he landed on top of her, she grabbed his shirt and, firmly pressing her foot on his chest, kicked forward.

Buffy slowly stood up as Blade flew across the room, hitting the wall.  He winced as he got up, already feeling a bruise beginning to form on his back.  "Ready to call it quits old man?  Or are you up for more?"

"Bring it," Blade spit out as he slowly advanced on her.  She merely raised an eyebrow and smiled at him as she sauntered towards him.

With a burst of fresh speed, Blade rushed towards her.  He punched towards her with a jab, turning it into a knife hand at the last possible moment.  Buffy, taken by surprise by the move, was unable to block it and she grunted as it hit her in the ribs.  He followed it with an uppercut that had her reeling.  As he kicked forward with a round kick, she managed to block it slightly.  She back flipped away, shaking her head to catch her bearings.

"Tired already, blondie?" Blade rasped.

"I've barely gotten started."  

With that both of them attacked in earnest, neither holding anything back.  Their movements seemed to blur as punch after punch was exchanged, blocks were put up, and kicks were put forward in full strength.  Finally, with a burst of energy from each, both of them managed to hit each other.  Blade caught Buffy off-guard with a jumping front kick, while she leapt into a butterfly kick.  

Both flew backwards, hitting the ground.  Identical gasps of pain were issued from both as they slowly stood up.  The bruises both had received were finally being felt.  Buffy and Blade looked at each other warily for a minute, both in defensive stances.  Then, as a mutual understanding, both relaxed.

Buffy walked over to the first aid shelves, pulling out towels for both of them.  She threw one to Blade, sighing in relief as she wiped the sweat and blood off of her skin.  "Thanks for the workout.  You weren't too bad, for a half-vamp."

"And you weren't bad either – for a midget."

Buffy turned and glared at him, hands on her hips.  "I am not short!"  she exclaimed as she stared up at his tall frame.  "You're just much too tall, that's all."

Blade chuckled and for a moment, a smile passed between them.  For a moment, there was an understanding between the two as they took a break from the hardships of the past to have a simple conversation.

"Where the fuck did you learn to fight like that?  And with such power?" Blade asked as he threw the towel back on the shelves.  "Cause you would think that a person your size couldn't do half the things that you did."

She shrugged, adding her towel to his.  "That's the advantage of being a Slayer.  Extra power and increased fighting ability all in a little package."

The two started walking towards the door, both talking as they did.  "Who did you train with?  Some of those things you just don't pick up."

Buffy looked away, closing herself off to him.  "I used to work with someone.  But they  - left.  And we have more important things to talk about; like Frost.  He'll be coming after us, now that he can't do the ritual anymore.  We have to get ready for attacks."

Buffy picked up her pace and exited the room before him, completely closed off.  Blade followed her, wondering what had happened to her to make her like that.  And, realizing how much they actually had in common.


	13. Warnings

_Nope, still don't own any characters.  It would be cool if I did, though.  _

Warnings

_Silence._

_That's all there was.  Just silence.  No outside noise, no background sounds.  Just pure, simply silence._

_Then, the chanting started.  She knew what she was saying but for some reason, she felt miles away from her body, as if the chanting was merely routine.  It was not difficult.  No, not now.  It was perfectly natural._

_Unconsciously she reached across the circle, pulling a spring of lavender from its resting place.  Still softly chanting the words, she slowly ground it up beneath her fingers.  Ever so slowly she poured it out around her, close to the edges of the circle but never touching it._

_She could see the picture forming in her mind, for her eyes were shut lightly.  Images slowly started taking shape until they were clear in her mind.  People and places went through her mind, slowly at first but slowly became faster.  Suddenly, images were pouring at her, so fast she could not keep track of them all._

_Her chanting was suddenly unsure, halting.  Her breath came in deep gulps as her hands clenched.  She tried to sort the pictures out but her inner calm was gone.  Suddenly, a scream swept through the air, shattering the silence of the air._

_Buffy's eyes shot open as she looked around wildly.  Her hands shook slightly as the exhaustion caught up to her.  She sighed, disappointed once again._

_"I can't do it, Will," Buffy said, turning to look at her friend.  Willow sat on the bed of Buffy's room, her flame-red hair swept into a ponytail.  "It never works, no matter how hard I try."_

_Willow stood up and walked over to her friend, putting an encouraging hand on Buffy's shoulder.  "You can, Buffy.  You just have to find your inner calm.  You have to connect the magic with the world around you and with the deepest part of your soul."_

_Buffy shook her head.  "I'm just not good with this stuff.  I'm more kill, crush, destroy.  I can't do the magic thing.  I don't have the brains to do this like you do."_

_"Buffy, that's not true," Willow protested softly.  "You're a very smart girl – school was never your thing, that's all.  Besides, learning magic is good for you.  It gives you more control over things and it gives you more inner calm and patience.  And, it'll even help with your slaying."_

_"I know Will," Buffy whispered, her throat suddenly closing up.  "And I need the help.  It's been so hard ever since…"_

_Her voice trailed away as tears filled her eyes, though she willed them away.  It was too painful to think about that right now.  She couldn't._

_Willow's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her friend.  She used to be so strong – now, the strength wasn't there as much.  Buffy had worked so hard to get back the will to live, to get back the power and strength that she had once had after her death.  Now, she was almost back at the same spot._

_"I know it's been hard, Buffy," Willow whispered, her voice tightly controlled.  "I can't believe that he's gone, y'know?  I mean, it was Giles and Giles would always be there, even when he was in England.  Sometimes, after research, I'll think, 'Oh, I should call Giles.  He would know what to do.'  But I can't.  And, it's so hard."_

_Tears flowed down Willow's cheeks as memories of Giles came back to her.  Buffy walked over to her friend and slowly, the two women embraced each other.  Finally, for the first time since his death, tears slowly leaked out of Buffy's eyes.  They streamed down her cheeks, though she made no move to brush them away.  She just embraced her friend, laying her gently against Willow's._

_"I miss him so much," Buffy confided in her friend as Willow slowly stroked Buffy's hair._

_"Me too," whispered Willow._

_Neither of them said anything as they sat there, the sounds of their sobs echoing throughout the room.  They grieved for their lost friend, fallen comrade, strong father.  They grieved for the lost time, the angry moments.  And they grieved because he was gone.  He had been swiftly taken away without any warning._

_That's what happens when you age, the doctors had told them.  His family had a long history of heart problems.  He had never said anything.  Maybe he didn't know about it.  Maybe he didn't want to inconvenience anyone.  Whatever the case, death had come for him.  In a form that couldn't be slayed, couldn't be killed.  Heart attacks kill many good ones much too soon._

_"You'll always be here, won't you?" Buffy asked Willow softly.  "You're my best friend, Willow.  I don't want to lose you too."_

_Willow nodded, though she didn't pull out of the embrace.  "I'll always be here Buffy.  We'll face the end of the world together."_

*Flash* 

The quiet, calm of the room was gone.  Now, the sounds were harsh.  Screaming of sirens, screams of people.  Cars screeching to a halt besides the wreck that had once been the car of a one Xander Harris.

_But Buffy heard none of this as she rushed forward, heart caught in her throat as she saw the dark shape before her.  Unmoving.  Covered in blood._

_"Willow," she whispered, hands shaking in pain, exhaustion, and shock.  She ran forward and knelt next to the body of her friend, her tears starting anew.  How could this happen?  How could three of the people she loved the most in the world be taken away from her so suddenly?_

_Willow shifted slightly, her eyelids fluttering open to see Buffy kneeling above her, a look of grief shining in her eyes as tears slowly flowed down her cheeks.  Willow tried to sit up, but pain was too great._

_Buffy didn't even notice when Willow shifted, for her grief was too great to see that Willow was still alive.  It wasn't until she felt the light touch on her wrist and the soft voice calling her name that she came back to the moment and looked at the pain-filled eyes of her friend._

_"Oh God Willow, they're dead," Buffy rasped, her voice hoarse.  "Xander, Dawn….they're gone.  Just like Giles.  And I don't remember what happened.  It happened so fast…"_

_"Shhhh," Willow whispered, cutting Buffy off.  "Don't worry about that now.  There are other things to worry about.  Things are coming Buffy.  I can feel it in my bones.  I can feel it in every fiber of my body.  The Hellmouth – "_

_Willow coughed, her words cut off by it.  She turned slightly to the side as drops of blood fell from her open mouth.  Her vision dimmed slightly for a moment but she forced herself to stay conscious.  She had to stay conscious, if only for a few minutes.  "The Hellmouth is opening.  I wasn't sure until now.  It wants to eat this world whole."_

_"I'll take care of it Wills," Buffy said quickly, trying to reassure her friend.  "You have to rest now.  The ambulance is coming and they'll be able to help – "_

_Willow shook her head, even that small movement sending pain throughout her body.  "No, Buffy.  Not this time.  I'm dying.  They can't save me now."_

_"Yes they can Willow," Buffy whispered, almost pleaded.  "They'll be able to save you.  They have to."_

_But Willow didn't answer this time.  Instead, with the last ounce of strength she had, she entwined her fingers with Buffy's.  A warm, bright light enveloped their hands for a moment before it died away.  Strength flowed into Buffy as Willow's hand slowly dropped to the ground._

_Tears continued to pour down her cheeks as Buffy saw Willow take her last breath.  As she stared at Willow's body, a familiar voice echoed in Buffy's head._

_*I love you Buffy.  You're one of my best friends.  Stay safe.  Be cautious.  You have a long road ahead of you.  We will watch over you*_

_Buffy barely noticed the medical workers running over to her from the ambulance.  She didn't even notice as she was quickly led away, the doctors taking great care with her dislocated shoulder.  And she certainly didn't notice the man standing in the small ground, fists clenched as he watched her walk to the ambulance.  Completely alive._

Buffy sat upright in her bed, taking great gulps of air.  She shook her head, trying to clear her head of the dream, not wanting to be reminded of the pain of her past.  As she slowly crawled out of the bed, she noticed in shock that her one hand was glowing.

The same hand that Willow had grasped.

She stared at her hand for a moment, watching as the color faded.  _It was only remnants of the dream.  It wasn't real._

Buffy picked up her watch, swearing softly when she noticed the time.  In a flurry of movements, Buffy was dressed, had grabbed a coat, and was running out the door of her room.

As she ran towards the exit of the warehouse, she almost slammed into Blade.  Only her Slayer reflexes caught her from doing so.  He grabbed her arm as she attempted to run past him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.  She glared at him as she snatched her arm away.

"To work.  I do have a job, y'know."

"Be careful.  You might get some unexpected visitors," Blade warned as she whirled around and rushed towards the door.  With her hand barely touching the doorknob, she turned around and rolled her eyes at him.

"It's daytime," she said.  "Sunlight kills vamps, remember?"

And with that, she was out the door.  Blade watched her go, shaking his head at her hurried departure.  "You'll be surprised then, blondie.  Frost doesn't let a little sunlight bother him."


	14. Surprising Encounters

_Still don't own anything.  That is becoming a little monotonous after awhile.  Sorry this chapter took so long but I'm back at school and everything has been really busy!_

Surprise Encounters

Buffy sighed as she readjusted her outfit, tugging vainly on the hem of her skirt.  She picked up her tray of food, wincing at the tightness of her shirt.

_Yes,_ she sighed as she made her way through the restaurant, ignoring the stares of a few patrons.  _I do have a job.  And I am able to make a living for myself.  But I just wish that the uniform wasn't so tight!_

She found her table and quickly gave them their food, smiling sweetly at them and exchanging short words of conversation before walking back to the kitchen, rolling her eyes.

She glanced at the clock as she entered the kitchen, relief passing through her as she looked at the time.  Lunch was almost over and her break was coming up soon.  She glanced back in the restaurant, watching as patrons left and fewer people came in.  Looking around her section, she smiled a genuine smile as she saw that there were only two people there.

"Hey Buff!"

Buffy grimaced as she heard the high-pitched voice calling her name.  She smothered a sigh as she turned around, plastering a fake smile on her face.  "Hey Candy.  What's up?"

Walking over on four inch stripper heels, the hostess strolled over to Buffy, her bright red lips twisted in a smirk.  Buffy groaned inwardly at the smile, having seen it only a few other times though never directed at her.

"There's a hottie asking for you, sweets," Candy purred.  "I put him the back of your section – there's more privacy there."

She winked at Buffy before walking away, a few men at the bar watching her saunter towards the doors.  

Buffy sighed again, pushing Candy's comments to the back of her mind.  Yes, she definitely worked in a sleazy place.  She walked over to the booth in the back, not even looking up at her customer as she pulled out her pen and pad.

"What can I get you to drink?"

The man smirked, his silver blue eyes cold as they slowly traveled the length of her body.  "I don't know.  Got any fresh blood back there, Slayer?"

Buffy's eyes shot up in surprise and she dropped her pad to the floor.  She stared at him momentarily as she felt her slayer-sense tingling.  She silently cursed herself for not noticing it before – he wasn't the only vampire in the restaurant.

"What's the matter, Slayer?" Frost said.  "Cat got your tongue?"

Her hands clenched and her voice came out as a hiss.  "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the back of the booth.  "Just decided to have a little visit with you, nothing more.  Why don't you sit down so we can talk a little?"

Buffy arched her eyebrow at him, her hand reaching behind her to grab the knife that was strapped to her back – it was thin enough that no one had ever noticed it, be it employee or patron.

"Don't even think about," he said, his voice taking on a menacing tone.  "One wrong move and my boys and I will take out everyone we can in this restaurant.  Do you want their innocent blood to stain your hands?"

Buffy looked around, cursing as she saw the faces staring at her.  She quickly calculated her odds, realizing that she could not take them all.  Slowly, she slid into the opposite side of the booth, crossing her arms across her chest.

"What do you want, Frost?" she asked, her voice cold.  "How did you get here?"

He smiled at her, letting his fangs show slightly.  "Daywalker didn't tell you?  With just a little ingenuity, we can be just like him.  Walk out in the sunlight."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, noticing that his skin had a slick look to it.  The answer dawned on her suddenly.  "Sunscreen.  You used fuckin' sunscreen."

"Language, Slayer," Deacon chastised.  "What kind of lady uses language like that?"

"Listen, Frost.  I'm not going to sit here and play your stupid games.  Tell me why you're here."

Frost sighed, shaking his head.  "Here I am, trying to have a decent conversation with you and you just throw all of my efforts right back at me.  I'm disappointed, Slayer.  I expected more from you.  I would think that Giles would have taught you better manners than that."

The look of shock and pain that appeared momentarily on her face was worth every penny.  He smirked as he saw the pain flash through her eyes before she blinked it away and leaned forward, eyes narrowed to slits, teeth clenched.

"Why are you here," she said, emphasizing each word, demanding an answer.

Frost leaned forward himself, staring directly into her eyes.  "I come here bearing an offer.  Because of your rescue, you ruined my plans.  You destroyed everything I had worked for."

"Tough shit," Buffy hissed.

Frost's smirk grew as he felt the anger radiating off of her.  "Usually, I don't let people off easily.  Especially those who ruin things for me.  But I'm feeling lenient today."

His voice grew softer, more menacing as he stared at her.  "I know everything about your past, Slayer.  I know about everyone you've loved, everything you've done…everyone you've done.  I know how to hurt you.  But I won't…if you take me up on my offer."

He paused, waiting for a reaction from her.  She didn't say anything and her expression didn't change.  He continued.

"Give me Blade.  I owe him one.  All you have to do is give me the Daywalker and we'll leave you alone forever."

Buffy laughed at him, rolling her eyes.  "This is your plan?  Try to scare me into doing what you want?  You've got a lot to learn about Slayers if you think that we're intimidated that easily.  I will _never_ do what you want, Frost.  Never."

She started to stand up when suddenly, faster than she expected, he was on her side of the booth, trapping her in.  He held both of her wrists, impairing her from grabbing her weapon.  He leaned forward until their faces were merely a few inches apart.

"One last chance, Slayer," he whispered as he leaned close to her ear.  "One last chance to accept my offer.  If you don't…"

  
He let his voice trail off, letting her know the consequences.  She rolled her eyes and with a decent push, she pushed him out of her side of the booth and he stumbled back.  She grabbed her pad of paper from the floor and stood back up, staring him down.

"Watch your back, Frost," she said coolly.  "Because you never know when I'll be there."

With that she walked off, going back to the kitchen to grab the orders of her other patrons.  Frost watched her retreating back, smirking as she disappeared into the kitchen area.

_This is going to be interesting_, Frost thought to himself as he walked out, motioning for the other vampires to follow him.  _It will be difficult to break her.  Possibly just as difficult to fight her.  But she will go down.  I'm sure of that._


	15. Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer:  Nope, still don't own anything.  Wish I did, but I don't._

_Authors Notes:  I know, its been a long time since I've written this.  But hopefully, updates will not be so few and far between.  Hope you enjoy!  Catch ya on the flipside!_

Ordinary Day?

Faith took a deep breathe, almost wincing at the mayhem in front of her.  Noises lashed out at her from all sides, as if there was no escape from them.  Even with the calming reassurance from the Watcher besides her, Faith felt her heart beating rapidly.  She involuntarily took a step back, almost as if she were preparing to flee from what was ahead.  She turned to her Watcher, unable to keep a pleading look from her face.  Celeste rolled her eyes and stepped forward.

"Faith," she said patiently, walking forward slowly while glancing behind her at the Slayer.  "This is no big deal.  You've done this a million times before."

Faith sighed, grudgingly walking forward, trudging along almost as if to meet her doom.  "Doesn't make it any less freaky.  I mean, Cel, c'mon!  Just look at them!  None of them are exactly all there."

Celeste glanced around quickly, only to turn back to Faith and smirk.  "They're just teenagers, Faith.  You've been there before."

"Nu-uh," Faith said, shaking her head violently.  "Never was any of that bullshit with me.  None of that giggling and gawking while staring in the mirror crap.  Just give me something to fight, and I'll take that down faster than a quick one."

For a moment, Celeste seemed unsure of what to say before realization hit her.  Her eyes opened wider for a moment before she shook her head, smiling.  "Anyway, it doesn't matter.  The Council has given me funds for you – that means you have to buy some clothes for yourself, other than the few that you already have."

"I guess," Faith said slowly.  "After the d and d knife fight with B, my apartment was trashed."

"D and d?" Celeste questioned as she and Faith slowly walked through the mall.  

"Down and dirty."

Celeste nodded at the explanation, not pressing into Faith's past any further.  The two walked in a semi-uncomfortable silence before Celeste stopped in front of a store and started walking in.  She stopped suddenly as she noticed that Faith was not following her.

"Faith?"

"No way in hell am I going in there," Faith said, hands on her hips.  "No way you're going to prep me up just because I all with the good now.  If that's the deal, I'm going back to the other side."

Celeste laughed as she turned around and left the store.  "Fine, have it your way.  You can pick all of the stores then.  I was merely suggesting – "

"Suggest something else.  The vamps'll die laughin' if I try a bad-ass attitude with the prep of the month club clothes."

Faith shivered at the thought, causing Celeste to burst out laughing.  They walked past a couple more stores before Faith was drawn into one.  She grinned as she walked in.

"This is where it's happenin'"

Faith and Celeste suddenly found themselves entrenched in hard rock music as they entered the store.  Faith looked around at the clothing selection, glancing at each of the customers in the store as she did so.  Piercing and colored hair greeted her, as did torn clothing and studded belts.

"This is IT!" she said in excitement as she spotted a rack of sales clothing.  Celeste watched in amazement as a flurry of clothes were soon picked out, creating an array of black, brown, and red clothing.  Leather, studded belts, tanks, tight shirts – all were put in Celeste's arms so quickly she barely had time to adjust to the new ones when more were added.

Time seemed to fly by as Faith and Celeste went through the mall, picking out an arrangement of clothes, belts, and shoes.  Though Celeste did not say anything, she did notice that all of the clothes Faith had picked out coincided with the attitude that she played – the bad girl attitude.  It was not until Faith stopped suddenly in front of a store that Celeste realized how much she played up to the attitude.

Faith stared at the outfit in the window, seemingly mesmerized by it.  It was a simple skirt and top set.  A sheer white button-up top covered the light blue tank top.  A knee length, white and light blue patterned skirt completed the set.  

"See something you like?" Celeste asked softly.  Faith blinked, tearing her gaze away from the outfit and shook her head.

"Naw.  Just takin' in the crap they call styles."

She turned away from the window and walked quickly away, but slow enough that Celeste had enough time to glance at the price tag through the window before catching up.  A small smile covered her face as she added up the prices in her head.

As she quickly caught up with Faith, they noticed a large crowd forming by the exit of the mall, circular in shape.  Faith and Celeste glanced at each other for a moment before hurrying forward, intent on seeing what was going on.

Faith threw her bags in her Watcher's arms and pushed through the crowd, ignoring shouts and curses that people sent her way.  She finally got to the front just in time to see two girls, freshmen in college at best, slowly circling and glaring at each other.

Suddenly, the girls rushed at each other, the one of the left throwing a punch at the other.  The punch hit the other girl's jaw but she retaliated immediately with a low kick to the knee.  Both girls stumbled momentarily before standing back up and leaping at each other once again.

But, Faith would not have any of that.  She jumped between them, pushing both of them with enough force that they fell to the ground.  She crossed her arms and took a step back, glaring at both of them.

"Cut it," she said harshly.  "Tell me, little girls, what was that all about?"

Before either girl could answer, time seemed to stand still.  The crowd around them blurred, almost as if they were out of focus to the world.  A sudden headache overtook Faith, causing her to close her eyes momentarily and wince.  When she opened them again, she involuntary took a step back.

The girls walked forward, never taking their eyes off each other.  The blonde, who Faith could have sworn a minute ago was a redhead, was the first to speak.

"I've been looking for you."

The brunette stood there for a moment, glancing at her coldly.  "I've been standing still for eight months, B.  How hard you look?"

Faith gaped at them, her face paling as she realized what was going on.  The girls paid no heed to her, merely going on with the dialogue that was so familiar to Faith.

"Are you alright?"  the blonde asked.

"Five by five.  That's the thing about a coma.  You come out of it all rested and rejuvenated…and ready for payback."

With each step the brunette said, she took a step closer until, with the final words, she was right in the face of the blonde.  The brunette did not even twitch, though, even under the glare of the other girl.  "So much for pleasantries, huh?"

"What'd you think? I'd wake up and we'd go for tea? You tried to gut me, blondie."

"You would have done the same for me if you'd had the chance."

The brunette smiled at those words, moving even closer until their faces were almost touching.  "So let's give it another go.  See who lands on top."

The blonde looked at her, her words almost pleading but still as tough as she could manage them.  "It doesn't have to be like this you know."

"Actually, I think it has to be _exactly like this."_

Faith watched them, watching as the brunette tensed up, as if itching for a fight.  The blonde hesitated, glancing around her, as if she was watching people walk by.

"Not here.  Not now.  These are innocent people."  

"No such animal."

With those words, the surroundings changed.  Faith blinked, realizing that she was still at the mall, the girls were still glaring at each other, and that nobody had moved.  It was as if time had stopped as Faith had – dreamed? – about things from the past.

The girls' friends rushed forward, holding onto them and pulling them away from the other.  They shouted a feeble thanks to Faith who nodded it briefly, vaguely accepting it.  The crowd slowly dissipated until only Faith and Celeste were left.  

"Faith?" Celeste asked, putting the bags down briefly.  "Are you okay?"

She nodded unconvincingly.  "Course.  Five by five."

"You didn't have to do that, you know.  You didn't have to interfere with the situation."

Faith shrugged.  "It was somethin' interesting to do."

With that, the two walked out of the mall.  Faith glanced back briefly, frowning as she felt her "Slayer Sense" seemingly tingling.  She turned around as they left the mall, still disturbed about the feeling she was getting.

As the doors closed behind them, a girl no older than 18 stepped out from behind the escalator.  She smirked at their retreating backs, crossing her arms in front of her.  

"Scared Slayer?" she rasped, a strange vocal sound for an otherwise upbeat teen.  "You should be.  No more big sis there, watching your back, keeping you from falling.  And even though I look it, no kid sis either."

For a moment, her eyes glowed bright red and her face paled considerably.  But as quickly as it had come, it faded.  She turned around and almost ran directly into two guys no older than she was.

"Dawn?" one of them asked, looking at her in shock.  "Dawn Summers?"

She shook her head, glaring at them.  "Nope.  Wrong person."

With that she walked away, whispering slightly as she did.  As the boys turned around, they completely forgot about their experience with the girl who looked like Dawn Summers.


	16. Patrolling the Streets of New York

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters in the story.  None.  

Authors Notes:  I know, I know.  It's been a long time since I last posted.  But, I had writers block and though I knew where I wanted the story to go, the story did not want to get written.  But, because I have now worked through the writers block, chapters should be coming more frequently now.  I hope.

Patrolling the Streets of New York

The doors to the warehouse were flung open, spilling the last rays of daylight into the murky darkness of the building.  The doors slammed against the walls, the noise echoing throughout the warehouse.  Buffy stormed in through the open doors, going directly towards the middle area where all the equipment was set up.

As the doors were flung open, Karen jumped out of her seat, her heart racing.  She took a few deep breaths as she saw a flash of the tell tale blonde hair.  She sighed slightly, shaking her head as she realized it was only the blonde Slayer.  She turned away from her and went back to work, checking her calculations carefully.  Blade, on the other hand, did not even move a muscle at the noise.  He continued wiping off his polished sword.  He did not even acknowledge Buffy's presence, even as she stalked over to the chair he sat at and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Sunscreen," she almost snarled.  Blade looked up coolly, surprised at the amount of anger coming off of her.  He slowly set the sword down on the table next to him and stood up, nodding slightly.    
  


"Yeah," he said, "sunscreen.  Frost finally found a way to get out during the day."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" she demanded, her anger in full swing.

Blade shrugged and answered quickly before turning his back on her and walking away.  "You didn't ask."

Buffy stared at his retreating back, completely speechless, as he walked away from her.   For a moment, she did not know how to react.  No one had ever been this way around her before.  He was different from anyone she had ever met.  She couldn't just demand answers from him and expect a full answer – she couldn't expect him to tell her everything he knew.  He didn't work like that.  Swallowing some of her pride, Buffy followed him quickly.

She followed him into his room and shut the door behind her.  He turned around and looked at her, raising one of his eyebrows in expectation.  Buffy sighed.

"I need help," she said, gritting her teeth together.  "Frost and all the vampires here are different than the ones I'm used to.  I need to know about them.  I need to know everything there is to know about them so I can fight them without having to worry about any surprises.  Can you help me?"

The words seem to echo in the room and it took all of Buffy's strength not to walk out right there, forgetting any of that took place.  She had never been one to admit she needed help – help was always there.  She never had to ask for it.  In fact, she never would ask for it.  But no matter what she did or how she acted, help would always be there.  Now, times were different.  He didn't have to help her.

Blade was silent for a moment as he let the words sink in, his opinion about her rising as she admitted her need for help.  He sat down on a chair, nodding a gruff yes.

"Unlike some of the older vampires, those who were born vampires instead of those who were bitten to become one, Frost is not happy with the alliances that have been worked out with the humans.  He thinks that vampires should rule, not be forced to hide in the night.  Frost is dangerous, much more so than the older vampires want to believe."

"Yes, thanks for the history class, but that information won't help me kill the vamps," Buffy said impatiently.  "I need to know about their strength, speed, how to kill them – stuff like that."

Blade nodded, rolling his eyes at her.  "I'm getting to that.  You've already fought them so you know how strong they are – and I've already told you the best ways to dust them.  Silver stake to the heart, decapitation, fire – those work well.  But it's not the fighting that makes these vampires different.  These vampires associate and make partnerships with humans.  They have humans working for them.  And, with Frost in charge, the vampires are changing.  They aren't content with human partnerships anymore.  They want to be in control.  And with Frost in charge, they very well could.  He's dangerous.  Watch out for him."

Buffy stared at him momentarily, watching the vague emotions play on his face.  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling.  Of course, she had never tried to read people before – for her, it had always been kill, crush, destroy.  Now, things were different.  Times were different.  She had to learn new skills in order to survive.

"So, basically, the vamps are changing the rules on us," she said, starting to pace.  "They're making things more difficult."

He nodded at her, watching her as she paced back and forth, a habit she had long ago picked up from Spike.  Suddenly she stopped.  She turned to him, a small smile crossing her face.  "Well, if they want to change the rules on us, what's to stop us from doing the same?  We can't let the vampires control what we do.  We have to be more aggressive, more forceful.  Show them that we won't let them get away with anything."

"And how do you suggest doing that?" Blade asked, raising an eyebrow at her.  "You can't go bullying them around."

"Patrolling more," she said casually, waving off his comments with a flick of her wrist.  "Possibly finding people or demons to spy on them.  Use everything we can to our advantage."

"Good idea, blondie, but how are we going to put it in action?  How are we going to find people who are willing to spy on vampires?"

Buffy turned to him, a slow, secretive smile crossing her face.  "Don't worry about that.  I know people who could do it.  But until we can contact them, we should double up on the number of patrols we do.  Go out more, bring more weapons with us, try to find more vamps.  Show them that we're not backing down."

A rare grin crossed Blade's face as he studied her.  "You've got guts, girl.  And I'm beginning to like the way that you think."

A slight understanding passed through the two as they stood there and studied each other.  The moment, though, was broken up by a soft knock on the door.  Buffy stepped aside as Blade walked forward and opened it.  Karen stood on the other side, holding a bag out in front of her.

"This is the first batch of the new serum," she explained, handing it to Blade.  He took it from her, holding it carefully as if he was afraid he was going to break it.  "It's not completely perfect yet, but it should work for now."

He nodded at her, gratitude on his face.  "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she answered back, turning around to leave.  But before she could get far, Buffy stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait."

Karen stopped at the word and turned around, her attention completely on Buffy.  Buffy was unnerved for a moment by the sudden attention but quickly pushed the feeling aside.  "What does the new serum do?"

"It keeps his bloodlust at bay," Karen explained matter of fact.  "Because of the serum, he won't have to feed on humans in order to stay sane because of lack of blood.  Unfortunately, it isn't perfected yet.  He will slowly build up an immunity to this serum.  Hopefully, with the next batch, I'll be able to figure out how to fix that."

Buffy nodded at the rush of information given to her, almost going into the typical "smile and nod" routine she used whenever someone told her information that she didn't quite understand.

"Oh," was the only thing Buffy could manage to say.  "I see.  Thanks."

Karen nodded and once again turned around, this time not being interrupted as she walked back to her work station.  Buffy watched her retreating back for a minute, still processing the information.  She was interrupted by the sound of Blade clearing his throat.  She spun around quickly, her eyes meeting his immediately.

"We should go out and patrol, as you call it," Blade said crispy.  "If you want to show the vampires that they can't fuck around, we'd better get out as soon as possible."

Buffy nodded as she strolled over to one side of the warehouse, picking up a variety of weapons.  Silver stakes were hidden well in the black leather jacket she wore – Spike's old leather jacket.  A finely sharpened dagger was hidden in the sleeve of the jacket.  As she walked past the rows of weapons, an old wooden stake caught her eye.  She froze in front of it for a moment, her hand hesitating above it.  She had placed it there when she had first entered the warehouse, knowing that it would not do any good against the breed of vampires she was facing.  Yet, she couldn't bring herself to throw it away.

Even with the wear and tear it had seen over the last couple years, Buffy still recognized it.  A small, sad smile crossed her face as she picked it up momentarily.  Mr. Pointy.  Kendra's stake.  Her sister slayer's treasured weapon.   Buffy had lost count of the number of vampires she had taken out with the stake.  Now, it was a reminder of days past.

_I wonder how Faith is doing,_ Buffy thought to herself as she rolled the stake across her hand.  _I hope Celeste is working out well for – _

Buffy gasped and put a hand to her forehead, the stake falling to the ground in a clatter.  She doubled over, her eyes squeezing shut as images came flowing to her, filling her mind so quickly that she felt as if her body was overloading.

_Faith stood in the shell of a ruined home, blood dripping from a split lip.  Cuts covered her body, every part of her ripped clothing covered in blood.  Her blood.  She swayed slightly on her feet but she did not fall.  She instead crouched into a defensive position, glaring at the creature across from her._

_Her hands were tensed tightly into fists, blood streaming from them.  Bruised and bloody knuckles showed the abuse they had received, yet Faith paid no heed to it.  She glanced grimly to her right, her face hardening as she saw the still body of her watcher.  She glanced back at the creature and suddenly, a wave of fire came at her.  She screamed once as her body was consumed with the fire and then – _

The images left as suddenly as they had come.  Buffy shook her head, straightening her body as she gasped for breath.  She reached down to pick up the fallen stake but stopped halfway there.  She looked at it uncertainly for a moment before standing back up, leaving it on the ground.

"Are you coming or what?" Blade's voice echoed through the warehouse.  Buffy turned around sharply, hurrying over to where he was standing, staring at her impatiently.  "They aren't going to wait around for you to come."

She rolled her eyes at him.  "I've played with vampire for years.  Even though the ones I'm fighting now are different from the ones I'm used to doesn't meant that I've forgotten everything I've learned.  Vamps think with their teeth – they don't like to wait around."

Blade nodded skeptically at her before abruptly walking out the door of the warehouse.  She followed him, biting back any remark that had come to her mind.  She followed him closely, using her slayer-sense to find any vampires in the area.  A rush of adrenaline filled her as her body prepared for the coming fights.  Her steps became almost giddy, as if a breath of fresh air had filled her.

"So, where we going?" she asked, walking quickly to keep up with his pace.  He didn't even glance at her as he answered.

"To the places that they like to hang out.  They always seem to be in the same area.  Fuckin' idiots never learn."

"Well, ya know what they say:  Vampires aren't the brightest."  Blade stopped suddenly, turning around to glare at her momentarily.  She just shrugged at him, looking at him innocently.  "Ok, so nobody really says that because most people don't know about vampires.  But if they did, that's what they would say."

"Uh-huh," he nodded slowly, shaking his head at her, wondering how she could manage to have such abrupt mood changes.  He turned away from her and continued walking, freezing only a few seconds later.  He slid into an alley way, his black clothing giving him the ability to blend in with the shadows.  Buffy followed him without hesitation, blending in with the shadows with ease.

Two men passed by the alley, having rounded the corner Buffy and Blade had almost reached.  They talked loudly, giving no thought to the dangers of the night.  Buffy frowned as she stared at them, her slayer sense telling her they were humans.  But they were too fearless to be normal humans.  There was something off about them…

As their voices faded in the distance, Blade looked around the edge of the alley carefully.  He watched their retreating backs carefully, only leaving the alley when they disappeared from site.  Buffy followed him out.

"Who were they?" she asked quietly.  "They weren't vampires, but there was still something off about them."

Blade looked at the darkness where they had been in disgust.  "They're not vampires, though they're no better.  They're humans – they've sold out to the vampires because they think that the human race doesn't have a fuckin' chance against them."

"So the men that were attacking you," Buffy asked slowly, "they were humans?"

At Blade's nod, Buffy felt cold, as if she were leaning against a block of ice.  _I've killed humans.  Even if they were working with the vampires, I still killed them.  I've killed._

Blade glanced at Buffy, surprised by the sudden vulnerability that settled on her features.  "What's wrong kid?"

Buffy shook her head, the vulnerability gone from her features.   She opened her mouth to speak when suddenly, she felt vampires nearby.  Too nearby, in fact.  She spun around just in time to get knocked in the gut by a kick.  She fell to the ground, rolling to absorb the impact.  She stood up again, ignoring the pain in her aching gut.

"Looks like someone wants to play," she said as she ducked an oncoming punch from the same vampire that had kicked her.  "Trust a vampire not to play fair."

With lightning speed she grabbed the shoulder of the vampire that had just tried to punch her and elbowed him in the face while at the same time, kneeing him in the abdomen.  As he stumbled back, Buffy pulled the knife out from her jacket sleeve and with a quick flick of her wrist, beheaded him.  She did not even have time to watch his body dissolve in dust as two more vampires quickly replaced the one that had first attacked her.

As the vampires jumped at her, Buffy spared a quick glance over to Blade.  He was holding his own and then some against three vampires – his body worked like a well oiled machine, staking vampires left and right.  She turned back to her own battle, jumping into the air and spinning into a tornado kick.  The kick knocked both of the vampires to the ground.  As Buffy went to behead them, the knife was kicked out of her hand.  It went spinning in a flash of silver, hitting the side of a building.

A punch to her face sent her world spinning for a moment, giving her attacker enough time to kick her in the ribs.  Instinctively she rolled back, spinning her legs in large arches in the air, knocking back the vampires that lunged for her.  She got back onto her feet, brushing away the feelings of dizziness.

"Alright, that's enough playing," she said, pulling a stake out from her jacket.  "I'm done being nice."

"Time's up, Slayer," one of the vampires hissed as he lunged at her.  "Time to die."

"Been there," she said nonchalantly, punching him in the face.  "Done that.  Didn't like it."

She staked him quickly, arm up immediately to block the wild hook punch that the next vampire flung at her.  She responded with a harsh round kick to his knee, kicking with more force than usual.  He screamed as his kneecap shattered beneath him, sending him spiraling to the ground.  

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with fake innocence.  "Did that hurt?"

Without waiting for an answer, she staked him.  The third vampire lunged at her but with a vampire thrust of the stake, he too was dust.  Buffy wiped the dust off of her clothes and started over to where Blade was fighting against a group of vampires.  Clapping from behind her caused her to freeze in her tracks.

Buffy turned around slowly, body tensed for an attack.  Confusion passed over her face as she looked into the dark alley, not seeing anyone there.  She felt something, but she could not see anything.

A movement from behind her caused her to spin around in a defensive stance.  But her body froze as she glanced at the person standing just a few feet in front of her.  Her defensive stance dropped and she stood in an open stance, opening herself up to any attack that would come.

But nothing came at the moment.  Buffy could only stand there, the blood draining from her face as she stared at the person – the woman – walking towards her.  Her hands trembled slightly as her body stayed frozen to the spot.

"What's wrong Buffy?" the woman asked, her voice caressing every word she said.  "If I wasn't mistaken, I'd think that you were upset to see me."

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.  The woman chuckled and took a step closer, her black hair ruffled slightly by the wind.

"Don't strain yourself by thinking," the woman said.  "Don't want to hurt that pretty little head of yours.  Just go on and fight the little vampires.  That's all you were ever good for anyway.  Poor, slow Buffy.  Couldn't think when she needed too.  Could only fight her way out while she tried to help her friends.  Too bad it didn't work."

"Willow," Buffy whispered, searching the face before her.  It was Willow alright, but not the same as she had last seen her.  It was the Willow of years ago, the Willow that took justice into her own hands – the Willow that tried to destroy the world.  Buffy searched the eyes of her former best friend, trying to find some sign that it was the same girl she remembered.  She found none.  "How?…..why?..."

"Shhhh," Willow whispered, walking forward and putting her finger over Buffy's lips.  "Don't talk.  It'll ruin the moment."

Buffy frowned at her words.  "What moment?"

A chill overtook Buffy as Willow smiled, an evil, cold smile.  "The moment when I finally get to tell you how much you ruined everything.  How much you ruined my life, Xander's life, Giles' life, Dawn's life…hell, even Spike's life.  Almost making the wrong decisions, almost thinking about yourself.  Never caring how anyone else felt.  And, not being able to save us.  Your job was to protect people – and you couldn't even protect those who were closest to you, could you?"

Buffy stood there, trying to brace herself against the words that were thrown at her.  For a moment, she allowed herself to believe Willow's words.  Sometimes she had been selfish, sometimes she had made the wrong decisions.  But she had done everything she could to save them.

"I did everything I could to save all of you," Buffy rasped, forcing back tears.  "But I can't stop the decisions other people make.  I couldn't stop the car form hitting us, or the heart attack that killed Giles.  I don't even know if I could have saved Spike, either."

"You abandoned us," Willow said coldly.  "You left us to die."

"You were already dead," Buffy whispered, her voice tight.  "You were already dead."

Willow did not say a word; she merely backed up a step.  Buffy looked at her in surprise for a moment.  But before she could say anything, four figures walked up behind Willow.  Any blood that was left in Buffy's face seeped out completely, leaving her face bone white.  Xander, Giles, Dawn, and Spike walked forward.  But they, just like Willow, were different.  They were more menacing, their features darker.  Their eyes were coal black as they stared sharply at Buffy, all of them watching her coldly.

Buffy backed away from the people in front of her, jumping in surprise as her back hit the wall.  The five walked forward, slow, chilling grins covering their faces.  She searched their eyes for any compassion, any signs of their former selves.  Just like with Willow, there was nothing there but coldness.

"You tried, Buffy," Xander called.  "But your best just wasn't good enough."

"I always knew that you would end up failing, sooner or later.  Disgraceful," Giles said, shaking his head at her.  Buffy felt tears welling up in her eyes as she heard the words of her former Watcher.  

Dawn stepped forward, putting a hand on Buffy's cheek, almost as if she were caressing her face lovingly.  Buffy stared into the eyes of her sister, her own eyes pleading for some kind of care to be there.  

Dawn leaned close to Buffy's ear, her breath warm on Buffy's neck.  "I wish I could say that it's been fun, big sis.  But I can't.  Now, its time for you to die.  For the last time."

The hand that had been caressing Buffy's face so lovingly stiffened.  Buffy gasped in pain as Dawn ferociously dug her nails into Buffy's skin and clawed her across the face.  Blood dripped from the nail marks as Dawn stepped back from her sister, smirking at the pain written on Buffy's face.

Buffy wiped blood out of her vision as she looked up, this time finding Spike in front of her.  Her blood turned to ice as she saw him holding a railroad spike, her mind screaming to her, reminding her how he got his name.  "It's been a ride, luv.  Now its time to take my third slayer."

As he brought the spike above her head, Buffy closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.  Suddenly, Buffy felt her entire body stiffen as energy flowed through it.  She let a small gasp of surprise and her eyes flew open.  Her eyes, typically hazel in color, had turned coal black, matching the eyes of the people in front of her.  She felt almost separated from her body as her hands rose in front of her, green energy twitching from them.  She felt her mouth open, but it was as if she had no control it.

Spike's eyes widened in surprise as her hair took on a slightly reddish tint.  He backed up a step as he felt the sudden emergence of power from Buffy.  She spoke a single word, yet the tone and sound of her voice was different.  It was almost as if the word was coming from someone else.    
  


"Reveal."

As suddenly as the power had appeared, it was gone.  Buffy shook her head, her eyes and hair returning to their normal color.  She looked at the five before her – five vampires stood there.  The images of her friends were gone.  Only the vampires were left.  For a moment, the vampires glanced at each other in confusion, realizing that somehow, their cover had been taken.

With a wild yell, Buffy lunged at them, fury overtaking her.  _How dare they?  How dare they take on the image of my friends?_

With those words in mind she punched the vampire in front with such force that he went flinging back into the other four.  In a whirl of punches and kicks she knocked each of the vampires down, the world almost blurring as she moved.  She kneed a vampire in the groin, kicking it in the face as it bent forward in pain.  As the vampire fell on its back, she quickly staked him through the heart.

She moved onto the next one, punching it in the face and blocking every punch that the vampire threw back at her.  An opening appeared and she staked the vampire quickly, moving on once again.

Barely glanced to her right she threw a stake forward, grinning as she heard the scream of the vampire that had just climbed back to its feet.  The stake clattered to the ground as the vampire turned to dust.  The two remaining vampires glanced at each other for a moment before they started to run.

"I don't think so," she called as she ran after them, using her speed to vault over them.  The vampires stopped in their tracks, staring at the seething vampire slayer.  "I get to decide when this game is over."

With those words, she dusted the vampires.  She stared at the falling dust for a moment before turning to where Blade had been fighting earlier.  She frowned slightly when she noticed he was gone from the spot.  In fact, he wasn't anywhere in site.  Suddenly, a hand on her shoulder caused her to stiffen.  She grabbed the hand, spun around – 

And found herself face to face with Blade.  She sighed in exasperation, dropping his hand.  "Don't do that!  Didn't your parents ever teach you that it's dangerous to sneak up on a vampire slayer?"

"I missed that lesson," he said, watching her carefully.  "What was that back there?  I could see you fighting, yet I couldn't get in to help.  And what the hell happened to them?  I swear they changed…"

"Magic," Buffy spat out.  "Frost has taken it up a level.  He's got a full-fledged magic user with him now.  But it takes more than a few tricks to beat me."

Buffy spun around, not even waiting for Blade to answer.  He hesitated a moment but because of the speed she was walking at, he only had time to hurry to catch up with her.  He watched her carefully as she walked, for he knew there was something she wasn't telling her.  But something inside of him told him not to ask.  Told him it was not time yet to ask.  So the two continued walking through the streets of New York, nerves on edge as they patrolled.


	17. Nighttime Visitors

_Disclaimer:  I only own Ransofor.  Nothing else._

Nighttime Visitors

"Rise and shine boys and girls," Faith called out as she swaggered into the cemetery, eyes watching the shadows around her carefully.  "It's been a slow night and I'm just itching for a little fun."

Her words echoed answerless in the quiet graveyard until they slowly died away and left nothing but the wind whistling softly through the trees.  Faith sighed as she walked through the many rows of gravestones, the ground crunching softly beneath her.  She walked almost aimlessly through the rows of gravestones, nothing bothering her.

Her pace quickened as she fell into her thoughts, no longer paying attention to where she was heading.  Nothing bothered her steps.  No vampire, no demon was anywhere in site.  She continued on her path, for some reason feeling as if she was being drawn to a far off part of the cemetery.

As she walked, she thought about what had occurred recently in the mall.  Even now, she could not figure out what had happened.  Had she dreamed it all?  Or was something else at work there?

_What shit was that?_ Faith thought to herself as she continued her walking.  _Someone must have been playing with me – why else would I see that now? There was something there.  Slayer sense doesn't just jump out of at me during a regular day.  _

Faith ducked under a tree, brushing away the leaves as she stepped into a more secluded part of the cemetery.  There were only a few graves in this part, though they were tended neatly.  Blooming flowers stood above them, letting off a sweet scent.  Faith glanced at one of the gravestones, curious to see why these headstones were kept so much nicer than the ones farther in the graveyard.

Faith gasped as she read one of the names, physically reeling back from shock.  Her eyes widened and quickly flew to the other names, reading them off quickly.

_Joyce Summers.  Dawn Summers.  Alexander Harris.  __Willow__ Rosenburg.  Tara McClay._

Faith held onto the tree she had just passed under, letting it support her weight as she took gasping breathes to calm herself.  Sure, she had parted from them on bad terms last time.  But still…

Though she was not aware of it, she slowly sank to her knees as she stared at the gravestones in front of her.  Tears of guilt welled up in her eyes as she stared at them, her mind traveling back years to when she first met them all.  

At first, they had been welcoming to her.  Mrs. Summers had always invited her over, as if wanting to take care of the young motherless Slayer.  Dawn had always been one step behind Faith, liking Faith's attitude immediately.  Xander had crushed on her for awhile – but she had ruined any chance she might have had with him.  Willow, always friendly, only turned against Faith after the actions she had taken.  And even though she had never really met Tara, the shy girl was nothing but likable.

But Faith had ruined her chances to be part of their group.  She had continually snubbed them, even trying to kill them at some points.

"I'm sorry," Faith whispered to the gravestones.  "I was just so scared of being left alone again.  Figured it was best to keep my distance.  Couldn't get hurt that way, y'know?"

She sat there in silence for a few moments, doing nothing but staring at the graves in front of her.  She wished there was some way that she could tell them in person how sorry she was for what she had done, for how she had treated them.  She sat there for a few moments, almost longing for their forgiveness.  But they had none to give – they could not, for their spirits had long since moved on.

Faith slowly stood up again though she still stared at the graves beneath her.  Suddenly, the silence of the alcove she stood in was broken by the distinct sound of someone clapping.  Faith spun around sharply, the clapping hammering through the once silent graveyard.  As she spun, she pulled a stake out from the side of her shirt and fell into a defensive stance.

Her defensive stance dropped immediately and her hand slackened, causing the stake to drop from her hand.  She involuntarily took a step back, her face paling as she stared at the man before her.

The mayor.

She stood there in a stunned silence as the mayor sauntered forward, still clapping.  He stared back to her for a moment shaking his head, the trademark smile of his never leaving his face.

"I expected better things of you, Faith," he admonished as she stopped clapping.  "You had such a bright future in front of you.  Then you had to go and mess things up by being gutted by the Slayer."

Faith tried to will herself to respond but the shock of seeing him was too great.  Sure, he had been evil.  Planning to take over the world and all isn't the most respectable career decision in the world.  But that didn't change the fact that he had been like a father to her.  The only father she had ever known.

A look of wonder overtook the mayor's face as he watched her carefully.  "It seems that no matter what you did, you never managed to make things quite right.  You tried being the good Slayer for awhile.  Well, obviously that didn't work out.  Too much rebel in my girl for that to work.  Then you tried helping me out.  Wasn't the best work I'd ever seen, but you almost did well.  But once again, you failed."

"I thought that you would have figured out by now that no matter what you do, you're going to fail," he said as he stalked forward.  "Then again, it seems as if you can be just a tiny bit slow on the uptake."

He chuckled a little.  "Don't you think?"

She merely shook her head as her hands clenched into tight fists.  Anger built up inside of her quickly, threatening to explode at any moment as she stared at the man she once considered to be her father.  She bit back the anger, trying in vain to make herself relax.

"And now you think that the people you tried to kill are going to forgive you?" he goaded her, still smiling.  "Some things just can't be forgiven, Faith.  Trying to kill people – that's just pretty high up on the list of unforgivable acts.  Face it.  You will never be able to pay for what you've done."

"Not true," Faith spat out simply.  "I'm not standing here just to listen to your bull.  I'm paying for what I've done.  I'm taking action to pay for what I've done.  I've always been more of a taken action girl than a wimpy woe is me girl."

"Course you are," he said, the smile gone.  "That's why you're ruining everything.  I thought that you had a real chance to be somebody.  Now I see I was mistaken."

Suddenly he lunged at Faith, but as he did so, his form changed.  Faith barely had time to move as shock once again overtook her.  Instead of the familiar, almost comforting form of the mayor that he had been just seconds earlier, he was different.  Familiar oh yes.  Comforting?  Not in the least bit.

Faith jumped aside just before she was to be hit.  She grabbed onto the tree as she jumped, using her momentum to swing around and stare at the creature before her.

"What the – " she started to say but was quickly interrupted as the now-vampire lunged at her again.  "What game is this?"

The vampire grinned as he punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground.  "Just came back to finish what I started."

He grabbed Faith's fallen stake and pressed it forward, aiming directly for her heart.  He faltered, though, as Faith kicked him in the groin.  He slipped to the ground, pain registering on his face.  Faith swung her legs around, gaining the momentum she needed to stand.

"Doesn't matter if you're dead or not.  Getting hit in the balls still hurts like a bitch, doesn't it you bastard?" Faith taunted as she hit him with a round kick to his head.  He fell to the ground, his side hitting one of the gravestones.  Faith reached for the stake in his hand but as her own hand clasped around it, he grabbed her wrist.  With a simple flick of his wrist Faith vaulted over him.  She hit the tree and winced as she slid to the ground.  

The vampire stood up again, wincing slightly as he did.  Faith also stood up though pain shot through her body like a knife.  The two circled each other warily watching carefully for the next move.

"What are you?" Faith asked as she glared at him.  The vampire chuckled, a dry humorless laugh that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge.

"I thought you would have recognized me, Slayer," the vampire said.  "Or did more than one vampire torture and kill one of your watchers for you?"

"You're not him," Faith hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits.  "You dress all bit and shit like Kakistos but you're not him.  Why all the dress up?  Don't have the balls to be yourself?"

Kakistos – or the being that looked like Kakistos – only smiled in amusement, fangs glistening in the moonlight.  "It brings amusement to life, seeing the fear I evoke in people as I take the shape of people or things long dead.  I feed on their fear.  Then, I just feed on them."

Without warning Faith lunged forward.  She swung her arm forward, for all intents and purposes looking like she was about to punch him.  But at the last minute she brought her leg up in a round kick, hitting him full on the ribs.  She did not give him a second to recover as she grabbed him by the neck with one hand and punched him in the face with the other.  She kept punching him, determined to do all the damage she could.  

Even as he swung at her with the stake she pushed him aside, wincing as the stake scraped the skin of her bare shoulder.  He crashed into the tree, the grip around the stake loosening.  Faith took advantage of the slight loosening and grabbed the stake from his hand.  

Fire burned in her eyes as she glared at him, bringing the stake down to finish him.  Suddenly memories flashed back to her.  The stake in her hand wouldn't work for a vampire as old as him.  She punched him in the face one more for good measure and reached above him, literally tearing a limb off of the tree he stood by.

She slammed the branch into his heart forcefully, putting every ounce of strength that she could into her arm.  

"Killed him once," Faith whispered.  "Don't think for a minute that I couldn't do it again."

Kakistos stared at her in shock for a moment then glanced down to the branch deeply imbedded in his heard.  He glanced back at her, though this time the look was different.  The shock was gone.  Left in its place was a cool, calculating look as if something had happened that he had not at all expected.

Pain shot through Faith as she was brutally thrown to the ground.  She gasped for breath as she hit the ground though she quickly scrambled back up.  Kakistos had pushed the branch that lay in him forward until it had knocked Faith away.  He slowly pulled the branch out from his heart, the wood making a sucking noise as it was pulled from his chest.

"Well, I surely did not expect that," he muttered to himself as he watched Faith carefully.  "You surprised me, little girl.  Don't expect it to happen again."

With those words, his form changed yet again.  But this time, it changed into a form that Faith had never seen in person before.  Sure, she had seen it in the books she and the others had been using for research.  She could recognize him right away.  Ransofor.  But to see it in person…even Faith, Slayer that she was, had to fight herself to keep from backing up.

He stood about eight feet tall, towering over the tiny Slayer.  His skin was chalky white and pulled tight against his skull.  Three horns were firmly attached to the skull and were twisted at the end.  Dried blood glistened off the horns, giving Faith evidence that they were used quite frequently.  His eyes, sunken deep within his skull, were pitch black.  Faith suppressed a shutter almost as if she could feel evil dripping from his eyes.  His fangs glistened in the moonlight as she grinned at her, cocking his head to the side as he studied her.

"I underestimated you this time," he admitted, his voice harsh.  "But prepare yourself for next time.  I will not be defeated by a mere vampire slayer.  I am much more powerful than anything you have ever encountered."

"Bull," Faith countered quickly.

His smile grew larger, more sinister as he stepped forward, almost daring Faith to back up.  But Faith held her ground, refusing to let him intimidate her.  "You're a good little liar, Slayer.  But I know you're lying.  I can see it all in that pretty little head of yours."

"I can see the demons you've faced.  Difficult, why yes.  But they don't even compare to me.  Kakistos is merely an insect compared to the powers that I hold.  I'm giving you a chance now Slayer.  Run while you can.  Run far away with your tail between your legs."

"Not going anywhere," Faith said as she swaggered forward.  "I don't scare easily."

He smirked and took a step back.  Slowly he seemed to disappear until for a brief moment, all that was left was his eyes.  Faith watched as his eyes changed, becoming orbs of fire before her.

"Pity," whispered the wind around her.  "Because sometimes you really should fear."

The burning orbs disappeared, leaving Faith alone once again in the darkness of the cemetery.


	18. Attacks

_Disclaimer:  I do not own any of the characters used in this story except Celeste who is not even in this chapter.  No matter.  On to the story!_

Attacks

Darkness cloaked both Blade and Buffy as they finished their night's patrol and crept stealthily towards the warehouse.  Neither made a sound as they walked, years of practicing stealth evident in their movements.

Other than the first incident, the night had been pretty quiet.  A few unlucky vampires quickly and quietly dusted before they could even realize what was happening.  No more magic tricks had occurred.  Just a few ordinary dustings.

As they neared the warehouse, Blade froze suddenly.  Buffy froze immediately, silently thanking any gods out there for not running into him.  Running into your partner when he was just gaining respect for your abilities was not the best impression to leave.  She looked up at him quizzically, watching as light from the warehouse reflected off his sunglasses.  She followed his gaze, her own eyes narrowing in concern as she saw the flickering lights.

"Does that – "

Her question was cut off as he raised his hand, impatiently motioning her to be quiet.  She stopped talking abruptly, understanding his want for silence.  As he studied their surroundings, she closed her eyes and allowed to senses to open up completely.  She had shielded them slightly during patrol, for the constant presence of Blade and his unfamiliar "feel" had sent her Slayer Sense nuts. 

As soon as she opened her senses up, she almost reeled in shock.  She could feel vampires all around.  More than she was used too.  Hell, more than she had fought in a long time, if ever.  Her eyes snapped open and she looked back at Blade and realized that he knew they were surrounded.  Knew that there were vampires all around.

She walked up to him, her steps silent.  He glanced down at her, and their eyes met in silent agreement.  She motioned towards the back of the warehouse and he nodded, abruptly moving towards the front doors.  Buffy rolled her eyes as she sprinted towards the back, wincing as she heard the crashing of the warehouse doors.  Sounds of gunfire started, crashing and screams adding to the sudden noise.

_And I thought that *I* liked to make an entrance.  He puts me to shame._

As she neared the farthest end of the warehouse, she glanced quickly around before scaling up the gutter.  She scaled it as quietly as possible, doing everything in her power to make a surprise entrance.  

_Right, like they're not expecting me or anything.  They're not gonna be as surprised as they were last time.  It won't be all sunshine and daisies to get past them.   Oooo, open window!_

Thanking her luck, she grabbed the windowpane and slowly pulled herself up, making sure as little of her as possible was visible.  She peeked in and allowed herself a small smile as she saw Blade fighting against the vampires and – she had to admit to herself – doing it quite impressively.  Though he was King Broody, he knew his stuff.  He knew how to fight.

She pulled herself the rest of the way into the window, realizing her mistake immediately as she lost her balance momentarily and began plummeting towards the close yet metal catwalk.  Her cover would be so screwed.  Yet, right before she hit the catwalk, a pool of air seemed to grow beneath her and cushioned her fall.  She landed on the catwalk with barely a sound.  She stood there, frozen for a moment, as she pondered what had just happened.  

_Did I do that?  Did I *know* I could do that?_ She thought in confusion as she stared at the spot she had landed.  But she did not have long to think about it, though, as her attention was pulled to Blade.  He was still fighting well, but she could tell he was losing ground – and fast.  She pulled a stake out from beneath her jacket, not noticing the faint green glow that enveloped her hands.  She took a deep breath and looked at the ground far below.

_Alright, time for the Slayer skill.  And…off I go!_

She jumped off the catwalk, plummeting to the ground.  She hit the ground with a thud, causing eyes to swivel towards her.  She smirked at them, eyes roaming the fight as she looked for one person in particular.  Their eyes met, coldness exerting from both.  "Hello boys.  Did you miss me?"

A group of vampires immediately split off from the ground attacking Blade and went after her, fangs bared.  She rolled her eyes as they neared her, thinking that vampires were never original.  Always thought with their fangs, never with their heads.  One vampire, ahead of the others, leapt at her and was immediately dusted by the stake in her hand.  Abandoning the stake and the now-dusted vampire, she back flipped, catching another under the chin and knocking him back.  She landed in a defense stance, pulling out a knife from a strap around her ankle.

They attacked in force now, coming all at the same time instead of one by one.  She blocked their punches, scoring a hit every now and then with her knife.  Body parts flew around her as she hacked off bits and pieces of them.  Her usual quips were absent from the fight – there were too many vampires surrounding her to bother using up breath to form words.

She dusted vampire after vampire, but each was replaced by two more.  Soon, she felt herself begin to tire.  Her strikes were not as perfect, her aim just a tad off.  Suddenly, a lucky punch caught her by surprise and she stumbled backwards, into the waiting arms of another vampire.  She fought him off, but another vampire grabbed her knife and threw it out of her reach.  Another vampire grabbed her arms and wretched them behind her.  She could not hold back the gasp of pain from escaping, causing those around her to grin.  Rope was roughly tied around her arms, pinning her hands behind her.

"Does that hurt Slayer?"  one of them asked.

She glared at him, refusing to answer him.  He chuckled and pushed her forward.  She stumbled and fell straight to the ground, her reflexes the only thing that stopped her from slamming face-first into the pavement.  Her body tucked into a ball and she rolled over her shoulder, wincing as her arms scraped against the ground.  She landed partially upright until a kick to her ribs caused her to fall to the ground.  White spots appeared in front of her eyes at the pain, but she tightened her lips, not allowing the pain to be acknowledged.

She blearily rose to her knees, shaking her head to clear the fogginess from it.  She glanced over to Blade – he was in the same predicament she was.  She struggled with her bonds for a moment before a voice broke the silence and caused her to freeze in her efforts.

"Looks like both of you are in quite the situation there," a voice said dryly.  "Of course, anyone affiliated with the Slayer does tend to have that happen to them."

She recognized the voice.  The coldness, the lethal undertone…she knew the voice.  She stood there, motionless for a moment before slowly turning around to face the owner of the voice.  Her face paled as a man stepped out of the shadows of the room.  He was different from what she remembered.  A long jagged scar ran across his temple, which contrasted harshly with the tweed he still wore.  His eyes glinted coldly at her but as she stared at him, memories floated back to her.  Memories of what he had done.

Her own eyes turned ice cold and her hands clenched into fists behind her back.  She paid no heed to anyone else in the room but him.  Everything else was forgotten.

Blade watched her, watching as her entire body tensed up, so taut that he could swear she would break in half.  He looked into her eyes and found himself astounded by the hatred he saw there.  He knew that hatred.  He saw it every time he looked into the face of Deacon Frost.  Into the face of the monster that killed his mother.

"What the fuck do you want, Travers?"  Buffy hissed, her eyes narrowed into slits.  He shook his head at her, clicking his tongue as he walked towards her, yet still keeping a safe distance between them.

"Language Slayer, language," he said.  "What would Mr. Giles say?  Oh, that's right.  He's dead.  Not much he can do for you now."

Tears started welling up in her eyes at the mention of her Watcher, but she forced them back, refusing to give him the satisfaction that he affected her.  She pushed the words to the back of her mind, not letting them bother her.

"How did you get in here?" she demanded.  "This place was protected…"

"By a spell done by an amateur, obviously," he replied calmly.  "Anyone could have taken that spell done.  Even a person who has not studied that long with magic.  Yet another thing you've failed at Ms. Summers."

She broke eye contact with him, looking down at the ground.  Even though she was determined not to let his words affect her, a small part of her could not help but rebel.  Everyone she had ever loved, it seemed, had gotten hurt.  Because of her.  Maybe she wasn't such a great Slayer.  Maybe she was only a bringer of death, a bringer of pain.

With extreme effort, she forced the thoughts out of her head.  She slowly looked back at him, fury welling up in her eyes like a fire had been lit.  "Look who's talking, Travers.  Weren't you once head of the Council?  What happened with that?  Why aren't you in charge anymore?  Oh yeah.  That's right.  They kicked your ass out."

He lurched forward, catching her across the face with a slap.  Her head snapped to the side, absorbing the impact of the slap.  She stayed frozen for a moment before, with deliberate slowness, she turned her head to once again stare at him.  She met his hatred filled eyes with her own cold orbs, daring him not to move.  He stared at her, teeth clenched at the look of contempt she gave him.  Yet, he did not allow himself to lose control again.  He knew that he held the trump card.  A slow, secretive smile crossed his face as they stood facing each other.

"You're right.  The soddin' idiots "kicked my ass out" as you so charmingly put it.  Yet, did you ever find out the reason why, Ms. Summers?"

The question took her by surprise and she could not stop the questioning look from crossing her face.  _They never really told me why.  And I didn't question it.  Figured as long as he was gone, that's all that mattered.  It didn't matter how or why._

He chuckled at her look, realizing at once that she had not been told the truth.  Possibly that she had not even been given a real reason.  "The truth is, Ms. Summers, is that I have never been particularly fond of you.  In fact, I detested you from the moment that you were called, which only grew when you arrived in Sunnydale.  You refused to listen to the Council.  You went against all the rules in the Slayer handbook.  You were dangerous.  That just could not be allowed."

"Yet, no one in the Council was willing to do anything about that.  It left me to take matters into my own hands.  I hired a team to watch over you and you're friends.  Watch over their doings, their successes, and their failures.  I watched as all of you started to grow apart and move away from each other.  That gave me the chance to make my move."

"I visited your watcher first.  He, surprisingly enough, was less than thrilled to see me.  We exchanged words over a cuppa.  He did not even notice when I switched cups with him, giving him the one I had so carefully spiked."

Buffy's faced turned paler as his words sunk in.  Her face twisted into a mask of shock and anger.  "You killed him.  You poisoned Giles."

He held his hands up in mock surrender.  "Guilty as charged.  The hospital was more than happy to cover up the poisoning.  They were getting a whole new wing for the building, you see.  Did not want to lose that new wing.  I knew the best place to start was with the watcher.  He was the one that started the mess.  If he had trained you as the guidebook had stated none of this would have happened."

"The guidebook is shit," she spit out, her hands shaking in rage.  "Slayers are people, not machines to do your bidding.  We're people, Goddamn you!"

He ignored her outburst and continued with his story, relishing the anger and shock that swelled around her.  "He was just the first though.  We needed to get rid of all the people that were close to you at that time.  I took advantage of the opportunity when I found out about the trip you and your friends were taking.  A nice vacation to take a break from Sunnydale.  Away from your destiny."

"But you screwed things up for me again.  You lived through the crash.  I should have known that it would be more difficult to get rid of you."

He watched the conflicting emotions cross her face, her attempt to cover them up completely gone.  Her control was gone.  A red haze of anger covered her vision as she stared at the man that had so calmly set up the murder of all of those she held dear.  She did not even notice when her hands snapped the rope that held her.  She did not notice herself lunging towards him with a snarl good enough to rival a vampire.  All she saw was the look of surprise on his face as her hands encircled his neck.  She did not even hear his wheezing as he fought to take a breath.  

Suddenly, she was being pulled away by someone just as strong as she.  She cursed and screamed, fighting in vain to escape the person clutching her tightly.  Quentin Travers fell to the ground on his hands and knees, taking deep shaky breathes to get air back into his suffering lungs.

"Ah, ah, ah," whispered a voice in her ear.  "Not yet, Slayer.  We've got things to do before you can play."

The voice in her ear caused her to fall back to reality.  She glanced at the still huffing Travers, eyes widening as she realized what she had almost done.

"Oh my God," she whispered.  The voice chuckled.

"He can't help you now, babe."

Something hard hit her over the head and suddenly, she was falling to the ground as darkness overtook her.  Before she passed out, her eyes fell on Blade.  Her voice rumbled softly deep within her throat and her eyes went black.  A slight green slow once again caused her hands to glow as she thought of Blade and Karen.

"Protect."

With those whispered words, she succumbed to the darkness.  Frost, who had pulled her away from Travers just moments ago, picked her up easily and cradled her against his body.  He turned away from the shaking form of Travers and glanced at Blade with disinterest.

"Kill him," he ordered.  The vampire closest to Blade smiled wolfishly and grabbed the knife that had been taken away from Buffy during the fight.  He swung it towards Blade's neck – 

And screamed suddenly as a flash of green overtook him.  The blade dropped from his hand and landed before Blade as his body dissolved into ash.  Everyone, including Blade, stared at the ash next to him.  For a moment, no one moved.  But, suddenly, the moment was shattered.  Three of the vampires around Blade attempted to stab him with the stakes that lay around him but they too turned to ash.

"What's going on?"  Frost demanded, looking towards Travers.  "Why can't they kill him?"

"He's protected by magic," Travers explained, his voice harsh as bruises sprung up on his neck.  "Foreign magic.  That's not hers.  I can't break it."

Frost glared at the man.  "You're fuckin' lucky that you still have a use, old man.  Or else I'd have you killed right now."

With that, he spun around and walked out of the warehouse, carrying Buffy with him.  The other vampires glanced at each other for a moment before following Frost out.  Travers stood there momentarily before following suit, not taking a backwards glance at the half-vampire that watched them leave.


	19. Surprises

_Disclaimer:  As always, I don't own anything but Celeste.  Not much action in this chapter but its important nonetheless!  Hope you enjoy!_

Surprises

Faith slowly walked up the quiet walkway of Celeste's house, lost in thoughts.  Though she was ever aware of the surroundings around her – what kind of Slayer would she be if she got ambushed by a fledging on her watcher's grass – she could not help but think about her face off with Ransofor.  He was powerful.  More powerful than any creature she had faced before.

_He didn't lie about that, _Faith admitted to herself as she opened the door to the house.  _Arrogant conceited bastard, but powerful as hell._

Faith stepped into the house, the surprisingly heavy door opening with a groan of its hinges.  Darkness greeted her.  She frowned, unconsciously pulling a stake out of her jacket as she stepped forward and closed the door behind her.  As she opened up her Slayer-sense to study the room, the lights around her turned on suddenly, the brightness causing her to squint her eyes.  As her eyes adjusted quickly to the bright light, she could only stare at the room in front of her.

"Surprise!"

Five voices screamed that one word at her, each of them smiling at her.  Faith stood stunned for a moment as she looked around, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in.  Streamers of all different colors decorated the room, going from one end to the other in a mismatch of styles.  Groups of balloons were scattered around the house.  Each of the five people in front of her was wearing ridiculous party hats.  And she could _swear that she could smell a freshly cooked…_

"Cake?" Oz asked her, pulling her back to the moment.  He motioned to the giant cake that lay on the table in front of him.  She walked over to him warily, a wide grin crossing her face as she looked at it.

The grin quickly turned into a chuckle, the chuckle into an all out laugh as she looked at the cake design.  A figure, which she guessed was suppose to stand for her, was standing jauntily in the middle of the cake with a staked demon besides her – complete with x's for eyes and tongue flopping out of its mouth.  She stared at the cake as she laughed, catching her breath long enough to say, "Guys, this is ridiculous!"

"Yet quite accurate," Celeste said as she walked over to Faith, placing a hand on her Slayer's shoulder.  "Except I don't know many demons whose eyes turn into x's after they're killed…"

Faith shook her head at her as she looked up from the cake.  "All of you are just nuts.  Screws loose in the head and all that jazz."

"Yes, well if we have to look like nuts, so do you."  

Faith turned to look at the speaker, who was holding a party hat and looking at the Slayer expectantly.  She was a little shorter than the Slayer with bleached blonde hair.  She looked normal enough.  But Faith could swear there was something…off…about her.

"It is customary to wear stupid hats and engage in pointless rituals at a person's birthday," the speaker continued, seemingly not noticing the odd look Faith was now giving her.  "And if I have to take part in this absurd ritual, so do you."

With that, the woman placed the party hat on Faith's head and took a step back, looking at Faith expectantly.  Faith merely stared at the woman, eyebrow raised as she attempted to sort through the….extreme weirdness of the person standing in front of her.  Celeste laughed at Faith's silence.

"Faith, this is Anya," Celeste said as though that name explained it all.  When Faith merely turned her gaze from Anya to Celeste, Celeste sighed.  "Anya is a vengeance demon.  A few years ago she lost her powers and tried to assimilate into human society.  But she once again got her powers, though her work with vengeance is slightly limited.  She's also rather blunt."

"I got that," Faith said, sparing another glance at Anya.  "And I thought I was blunt.  You just take it to a whole new level."

"Yes, I know," Anya said, accepting the comment she viewed as going without saying.  

Faith stared at her for a few more seconds before turning away.  "Right.  Anyway, what's the deal?  Streamers?  Balloons?  We've got major mojo out there – we don't have time for this."

"But I made dip!" Clem exclaimed, holding up a large bowl.  "And once there's dip, you can't decide not to have a party.  Dip makes the party official.  Besides, we have that whole cake and that would be sad if it just went to waste…"

"Which, it's not going to," Celeste interrupted as Clem began to trail off.  "While there are important matters at hand, it is your birthday Faith.  And since Mister Giles always allotted time for Buffy to celebrate her birthday, even in the midst of an apocalypse, I don't see why we can't celebrate yours.  So that's that."

She punctuated the last words with a nod of her head, not allowing any arguments on the contrary.  Faith was about to say something when suddenly, Celeste's eyes lit up.  "Oh!  And don't forget the presents!"

"Presents?" Faith asked, spinning around to see where Celeste was looking.  Faith's eyes widened in shock as she glanced at the table across the room, piled with an array of gifts.  She took a step forward as the light gleamed off of the ribbons.  For a moment, she felt tears welling up in her eyes at the thought they had put in, the effort they had put in to give her a surprise party.  But she quickly blinked the tears away and turned back to the others.

"Thanks," she said her voice softer than usual.  "No one's ever cared enough to have a birthday party for me."

Celeste squeezed Faith's shoulder, smiling at her.  "Well, then its time that someone does."

Faith smiled back, though everyone could tell she was obviously a little embarrassed about the show of emotions.  Oz intervened quickly, waving a knife towards the cake expectantly.

"So…want some cake?  It looks like its pretty good.  And Clem there isn't a bad cook."

Faith smiled at him, walking over to the cake.  He cut a piece for her and as she sat down on the couch, everyone followed suit.  Soon, the cake was mostly gone and everyone sat on furniture around her.  Faith set her cake down and looked at the presents in front of her.

"Go ahead and open them.  They won't bite." Clem encouraged her.  She smiled at him and picked up the smallest box on the top.  Anya immediately sat up straighter as Faith began to open it.

"Oh, that one is from me," Anya said loudly.  "So what if it's smaller than all the other ones.  It's probably the best one here anyway."

All of the others glanced at her for a moment, but she merely shrugged.  "What?  It could be true.  Besides, she should feel lucky that I gave her such a good gift.  Giving away a gift goes against business in so many ways that even I can't count them all.  Do you know how much business and money I could lose if I give away some of my merchandise?  It's a good thing birthdays only happen once a year."

"O-of course Anya," Jonathan stuttered, looking at the vengeance demon nervously.  She merely beamed at him, unphased by his stuttering.  Faith shook her head at both of them and finished unwrapping the gift and opening the box it lay in.

She pulled a thin gold chain out of the paper wrapping inside the box, uncovering a blue amulet that hung from the chain.  Faith slowly twirled the amulet around, watching as it caught the light every time it moved.  She immediately put it around her neck.  As she did, a faint blue aura covered her, causing her to look at Anya in alarm.  "What the – "

"It's a protective amulet," Anya explained matter-of-factly.  "The light was just the magic of the amulet recognizing you and giving its protective powers to you.  The chain is virtually unbreakable too, so the amulet will last even during a vampire fight or whatever demon you may be fighting.  As long as it's not me."

"Thanks Anya," Faith said as she put the box down.  "I'll take care of it."

The vengeance demon nodded in approval as Faith picked up the next gift, caught off guard by the weight of the box.  Though it was not particularly heavy, she had not expecting the box to weigh more than the last.  She carefully opened the gift, pulling out a set of throwing knives.  Intricate designs covered the handles of the knives and as she dug farther into the box, she found wraps that could be placed around her arms or legs in order to hold the knives.  She tested the weight of the blades, smiling as she found they were in very good shape.

"Who are these from?" she asked.  "These babies rock!"

"They're from me," Jonathan ventured shyly, smiling at her.  She smiled back at him and put the knives slowly down on the table and moved onto the next gift.

The next gift was far lighter than the last and she opened it quickly.  As she pushed the tissue paper inside away, she sat there in awe for a moment before pulling out gift.  It was the sheer blouse with the blue tank top and the blue patterned skirt she had seen at the mall only a few days earlier.  She turned to her watcher but Celeste only shook her head and motioned towards Clem.

"I wasn't sure what to get you, you see," he explained, talking with his hands.  "And then Celeste told me about this outfit and I thought it was pretty but I still wasn't sure – "

"Clem," Faith interrupted, holding up a hand.  He stopped talking abruptly and looked at her expectantly.  She smiled at him.  "Thank you."

She put the box down on the table and picked up the second to last gift, shaking it in amusement.  The others chuckled at her, shaking her head at her antics.  She opened the box, only to find two smaller boxes inside.  "Funny, guys."

She picked the larger of the two boxes and opened it first, tearing away wrapping paper in a frenzy.  When the paper was pulled away, a familiar weapon dropped to the ground.  She picked up the weapon, memories of past conversations coming back to her.  

"Mr. Pointy," she whispered, turning the stake over in her hand.  "But didn't B…"

"She wanted you to have it," Oz spoke up.  "She said she didn't have a use for it anymore.  You would need it more than she would now.  Same thing with the other gift."

Faith put Mr. Pointy down and quickly opened the other box, pulling out a silver cross necklace in a stunned silence.  She recognized the necklace just as she recognized the stake.  She picked it up carefully, holding the silver cross in her hand.  

"I didn't think B would ever let this go," Faith murmured half to herself, half to those around her.  Nobody answered her though, instead letting her sit in wonder as she stared at the silver cross.  _She finally let him go.  After all these years, she let him go._

Tearing herself away from the necklace she put it down with the other gifts.  She picked up the last and final gift and tore it open, knowing the whole time that it was from her Watcher.  After all of the other gifts, she did not know what to expect.  Celeste could have gotten her anything.  She opened the box carefully, frowning as she pulled a book out from the box.  She turned to look at her watcher skeptically, arching an eyebrow at her.

"A book?"

Celeste shook her head, a secretive smile on her face.  "Open it up first."

Faith shrugged and opened the book to the first page, eyes widening as she immediately recognized the handwriting.

_The Watcher Diary of Faith Wilkins _

_As recorded by Sarah Neal_

_1997 – _

There was no date after the 1997.  Faith closed her eyes, knowing fully well why the second date had never been added.  Sarah Neal had been killed before the end of the Watcher Diary could be added.  Faith closed the book and stared at it for a moment, not having the strength to read any of it just yet.  She was silent as she placed it down on the table with the other gifts.  She was about to put the box it had been in down when she noticed something else, partially covered by tissue paper.  She moved the tissue paper aside and picked up the medium sized picture frame that was underneath.

Her own face stared back at her, eyebrow raised and a half smile crossing her lips.  She held a stake lazily in her hand.  But that was not what caught Faith's attention.  It was the woman partially in the background of the photo.  Her glasses had slipped partway down her nose and her head was cocked at an angle as she stared on in amusement.  Her brown hair was pulled back in a sensible bun and the clothing she wore was the typical Watcher tweed.  But there was a sparkle of life in her eyes that kept Faith from taking her too seriously.

Faith looked up from the picture and turned to her current watcher.  Celeste smiled back nervously.  "I didn't think you had any picture of the two of you, since most Slayers don't.  But I thought that you might like having a memory of your old watcher."

Faith didn't respond but simply nodded, placing the picture frame on the table by the rest of the gifts.  All was silent for a few moments before Faith looked up again, a smile plastered on her face.

"Any more surprises?" she asked cheekily.  "A scantily clad man jumping out of a cake?  Demons appearing out of nowhere?  Apocalypse?"

Anya stood up immediately.  "No, none of that.  I objected to the scantily clad man jumping out of the cake because he wouldn't be able to give me orgasms.  And demons are not good for birthdays.  So I've heard, at least.  But I discovered the most amusing pastime that many humans take part in and I figured that it would make the party very memorable to everyone involved."

She walked out of the room for a moment as Faith glanced at the others warily.  They merely shook their heads at her, not giving an answer to her look.  Anya walked back in, carrying a large square device with a microphone attached.

"No.  No way." Faith exclaimed as she jumped up from the couch and began backing away.  "I don't karaoke.  Screw that."

She tried backing away but quickly found that the others were more than a little persistent.  Soon, she was sitting back down on the couch with the song "Hungry Eyes" playing in the background, almost completely covered by Anya's singing.  Faith groaned and put her head in her hands, smiling as she shook her head.


	20. Pain

_Disclaimer:  Once again, I do not own anything in this story. Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones, but that's the way it works.   Hope ya like the latest chapter!_

Pain

She was aware of the pain.

Every part of her body screamed in agony, as if someone had lit all of her nerve endings on fire.  Though she had yet to move, she knew that once she did the pain would only increase tenfold.

She could not remember the last time every part of her body had been in such pain.  The only thing that came to mind that she felt she could compare to the pain she was feeling was the agony she had gone through when she had jumped into the portal to save the world.  It was almost the same feeling – like fire was licking every part of her body, burning her slowly.  Like she was dying all over again, with every movement painful.

Only this time, she knew she would not have the luxury of feeling the peace she had felt after the pain from the portal had subsided.  When she became aware of her surroundings this time, it would not be warm.  It would not be peaceful.  It would be cold and harsh.  Just like the day she had dug her way out of the coffin.

She eyes fluttered slightly open but were quickly shut again as the harsh light brought her back to reality.  She opened her eyes once again, this time slowly and carefully, hoping it would give her eyes the needed time to adjust to the light.  It helped a bit, though not enough.  For a few moments, everything around her was bright white in color.  She could see nothing else but the white.

_Wait a minute – this room IS white, _she thought.  _Who would make an all white room anyway?_

She slowly pushed herself up from the ground, a groan escaping her lips as her body protested with every movement.  She sat there for a moment and looked around the room, frowning as she saw that nothing else was in the room.  No furniture, no rugs, not even a door.  It was like she was in a box of some sort.  She absently rubbed her arm as she glanced around, trying to find a way out.

A sudden noise from behind caused her to jump to her feet, her reflexes a touch slower than usual.  She noticed it momentarily but pushed it away as a door appeared where none had been before.  Her eyes narrowed as Frost walked in, a smirk plastered on his face.

Her hands clenched into fists as memories of what had happened before she had passed out came back to her.  Memories of what happened before he had knocked her out.

"About time you woke up Slayer," he remarked dryly, watching her carefully.  "I thought that you'd never fuckin' wake up.  Was hoping that it took more than a blow to the head to keep you out for good."

"What do you want with me?" she demanded as she glared at him, anger falling off of her in waves.

He merely chuckled at her, shaking his head.  The door behind him closed suddenly, leaving no trace of the opening that had been there just a moment earlier.  "I've never met a Slayer before.  I wanted a chance to study one before the British bastard got his chance at her."

Buffy's eyes blazed as thoughts of Travers came to her head.  "I won't let him touch me."

"You might not have a choice on that one, little girl."

Without warning, she lunged at him.  Warning bells went off in her head as she moved slower than normal but she ignored them and instead punched Frost directly in the face.  Though she had punched him as hard as she could, he barely flinched at the contact.  He grabbed her wrists and with barely any effort, he threw her across the room.

She slammed into the wall, the breath knocked out of her instantly.  She fell to her hands and knees, taking deep gasping breaths in order to fill her crying lungs.  She slowly pushed herself to her feet, staring at Frost in shock.

"Ok, what's going on?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

He smirked at her once again and pulled an object out of his back pocket.  He held up a small needle, its contents emptied.  Buffy stared at him uncomprehending for a moment before sudden, horrible, realization hit her.  She looked down at her arm, at the spot she had rubbed just moments earlier when she had woken up to find herself in the room.

A small puncture mark, recently made, stood out on her arm.

A short, harsh laugh escaped her as she looked back up at him.  "Too afraid to deal with a real Slayer, Frost?  Gotta drug me in order to fight me?  For being such a tough vampire, you really don't have the balls to fight against someone who knows what they're doing?"

The door opened once again before Frost could answer.  Her blood turned to ice as Travers walked in, smiling coldly at her.

"Actually, that was not Mr. Frost's idea," he said.  "You are more than enough trouble when you do not have your strength.  I do remember the test we administered, Miss Summers.  Did you really believe that I would let you wake up with all of your strength?  I do have more sense than that."

Buffy glared daggers at him, trying to control her anger enough not to lunge at him.  After all, she did not know how weak she truly was yet – and she knew that Frost had more than enough strength to knock her out again.

Travers smiled once again at her.  "I'll leave you two then.  And, Miss Summers, I do hope that the drugs have not had any…adverse effects at all.  That would be such a shame if they did."

"Bite me," was her response with a growl good enough to rival any vampire.

"Charming," Travers answered back.  "But I think I'll leave that to Mr. Frost.  Good day, Miss Summers."

He walked out the door before she had to a chance to reply.  Once again the door closed, once again leaving no trace that it had been there moments earlier.  Buffy stared at the white wall for a moment before turning her attention back to Frost, who had been unusually quiet during the moments when Travers had been in the room.  

He was leaning casually against the wall, his eyes half closed as he studied her, taking in all of the emotions that emulated off of her like waves.  When she wanted to, she could close off her emotions to anyone around her.  But when she lost control – anyone could tell her feelings.  She wore her heart on her sleeve.

"What do you want with me?" Buffy asked him again, breaking the silence of the room.  "Can't leave a girl hanging like this, Frost."

He pushed off from the wall and swaggered over until he was only a few feet away.  "You've ruined a lot of my plans, Slayer.  You ruined my only chance to bring about the fuckin' Armageddon.  I owe you for that."

She shrugged, a cold smile on her face.  "I have a tendency to ruin the plans of big-bad evil.  One of the few rules in the handbook that I follow.  But I do it my way.  And if I had the chance, I'd do it again.  Over and over again.  I'd never let you take over the world, Frost, no matter what I had to do to stop you."

"I've gotta hand it to you, you've got fire," he said softly, taking another step forward.  "And guts.  Not many people can stand up to me."

"That's surprising," she retorted.  "Guess all the vamps here are cowards compared to the ones I faced on the Hellmouth.  Compared to the demons I've fought, you're nothing.  The tough guy attitude?  Doesn't work on me.  Seen it before, dealt with it.  Gimme something new, Frost."

He surprised her by the sudden leap towards her.  He grabbed her wrists and slammed her into the wall, holding them above her head.  

She struggled vainly to escape his grasp, but her strength was completely depleted because of the drugs that had been pushed into her system.  Her eyes blazed with fury as they met his.

"Let.  Me.  Go."

Her words her cold and deliberate as she glared at him.  He merely stared at her, shaking his head slowly.  "I don't think so.  I just got you.  I'm not going to let you go until I have everything I want from you."

Her eyes widened and she struggled against his vice like grip renewed as his gaze traveled slowly up and down her body, as if studying her and sizing her up.  She felt exposed at his leveling gaze, as if everything was being bared for him to see.  Her heart skipped a beat as his eyes once again met hers.

"And I always get what I want," he whispered.  "Everything else be damned."

He transferred her wrists into one hand and, ever so slowly, pulled out another object from his pocket.  It was another needle, though one could tell with barely a glance to it that this one was not emptied of its contents.  Instead, they swirled around in the needle, the color of the mixture turning alternately black and red in color.

Buffy stared at the changing colors in apprehension before turning her gaze back to him.

"Ya like that?" he whispered, raising an eyebrow at her.  "The British bastard isn't the only one who can play around with magic.  I had a bunch of my boys working on this toy ever since he told me who you were.  Ever since he told me you were the fuckin' Slayer."

"Planning on drugging me again Frost?  Going to take away any strength that I have left?" she asked.

He chuckled at her response.  "Please.  I think I can handle you right now.  I could probably handle you when your strength came back.  No, this baby is much more exciting than that.  But I guess you'll just have to find out what it does on your own."

In the blink of an eye, Frost jabbed the needle into her skin, in the same exact puncture as the previous needle had been.  Buffy gasped as the foreign material traveled through her body.  She could feel whatever had been in the needle flowing through her, passing through every vein in her body.  She slumped against the wall, pain overtaking her so much that she no longer had the energy to stand.  Frost kept her from falling though as he slowly pulled the now-empty needle from her body.

He watched in mild fascination as red and black energy seemed to flow up and down her body, almost as if mimicking how the material was traveling through her body.  He looked into her eyes and was surprised to see the randomly colors it was turning.  While he had expected the black and red, he did not expect to see random spurts of green to overtake the black and the red.

"What the fuck?" he asked out loud.  He received no response from Buffy as her eyes rolled up in the back of her head.

Her body began to twitch and suddenly, without any warning, she screamed.  The scream filled the room, echoing off of the walls and almost causing Frost to cover his ears in pain.  He held onto her, though, and slowly lowered her to the ground.

"I hope it doesn't kill her," he said to himself as he allowed his gaze to once again roam over her body.  "She could be a lot of fun once the drugs take effect."


	21. Identity

_Disclaimer:  Still don't own anything.  If this chapter is a little confusion, good. __J_  It's supposed to be that way.  Anyway, hope you enjoy.  Oh, and look forward to the Faith-centric chapter coming up next!__

Identity

_Pounding music, flashing lights.  A stage set up in the front of the room.  A bar in the far corner.  Tables, chairs, and couches spread out around the room.  A dance floor in the center, waiting for the inevitable teenagers that would soon be on its floor._

_She knew this place._

_She'd been here hundreds of times.  Sometimes laughing with friends or simply hanging out with them.  Sometimes dancing with them on the dance floor, sometimes being dragged onto the dance floor smiling ruefully at the person doing the dragging.  Sometimes sitting around a table, ranting about the latest love interest.  Sometimes slow dancing with a love interest, enjoying the few times she could act like a normal girl._

_But the place was different now.  She felt out of place.  She felt like a stranger in a place that had once been familiar to her._

_Suddenly, the world around her seemed to spin.  She closed her eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning.  When she reopened them, she could only reel back in shock._

_Before she had closed her eyes, the place she was at, the Bronze, had been barren, empty.  Though music had pounded out of the speakers and colored lights had covered the room, the Bronze had been empty, completely devoid of life.  She had been alone.  _

_But now, people filled the room.  Laughter and conversation filled the room, threatening to overwhelm her.  Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned, trying in vain to figure out what had just occurred._

_She glanced around the room.  She instantly recognized many of the people, though she made no move to talk to them.  People from high school she had barely known now filled the room.  Even people from college she had maybe talked to once or twice sat on the couches, laughing about something that had just been said.  She glanced over at the stage and her heart skipped a beat as she recognized the band that was playing._

_Without any hesitation she hurried forward towards the stage.  As she neared the stage, she stood in front of the man she had known in high school.  He paid no heed to the woman standing in front of the stage as he continued playing his guitar, almost completely pulled into the music he was creating._

_"Oz!" the woman called out.  She winced as her voice could barely be heard over the pounding of the speakers.  She tried again, this time calling his name louder.  "Oz!"_

_Again, he showed no response to her call.  She stood there, puzzled as why he was not responding to her.  She waved her arms to catch his attention, her cheeks burning at the ridiculous of the motion.  But her waving had no effect.  For a moment he looked up from his playing and a sigh of relief expelled from her as he looked at her.  She smiled at him, raising an eyebrow as she started to question his lack of response._

_Yet something was wrong.  While he was looking at the area where she stood, it was almost as if he could not see her.  As if he was looking through her._

_Confusion once again set in as he looked back down at his guitar.  She started to call his name again but was bumped rather harshly but someone near by.  She turned around to glare at the person and possibly even to yell at them when suddenly, she was not standing by the stage anymore.  She was standing in the back of the room, far away from the stage._

_She blinked once, trying once again to figure out what had happened.  But her attention was quickly diverted by a familiar flash of red hair._

_In a flash, she was moving towards the familiar flash of red, her heart pounding in her chest as feeling of hope filled her.  It felt like it had been years since the last time she had seen that familiar color.  But that could not be right.  They had just hung out the other day, laughing about the latest development between Xander and Anya…_

_She continued following the flash of red but it seemed that every time she got close to it, the red would drift away farther into the crowd.  Victory at meeting up with the person eluded her every time._

_Suddenly, she stopped.  There in front of her, in the very same seats as usual was the gang.  The Scooby Gang.  She smiled in relief, taking another step forward._

_Yet as she did, something felt wrong.  Something whispered past her shoulder, something dark and unknown.  She whirled around, senses heightened as she searched for the darkness that hid from her._

_Try as she might, she could not find it.  She knew it was there but yet she could not place it._

_She turned back to her friends.  As she stepped towards them, she smiled as she named them all off._

_'__Willow__, Oz, Xander, Cordelia, Giles, Angel…'_

_She halted suddenly as her eyes swept over them.  'That's not right.  Someone's missing.  And not all of them are supposed to be like that.'_

_She closed her eyes and shook her head, as if that would make her see what was in front of her better.  But when she opened her eyes again, things were different.  Some of the people had changed._

_Willow, Giles, and Xander were still there but the others were gone.  They had been replaced by familiar people, though for some unknown reason, the group still seemed wrong.  She named the new people, her forehead still creased in confusion.  'Tara, Anya, and Riley.  Damn it, that still seems wrong!'_

_Before she could take another step, the scene and players before her changed yet again.  The original three were still there, along with Tara and Anya, but Riley was gone.  In his place two more people had been added.  _

_'Spike.  Dawn.'_

_The feeling of missing person was gone.  The whole group was there.  But she just could not shake the feeling of wrongness that threatened to engulf her as she stood on the outside of the group, looking in._

_And still the scene changed, faster this time.  In fact, it changed a few times as she watched on, watching as people disappeared.  Giles was the first to disappear, followed quickly by __Tara__.  Giles reappeared once more as Spike disappeared._

_Anya was the next to go, though Spike reappeared not long after her disappearance.  Giles disappeared again, and she knew that he was gone for good this time.  Xander was next, followed quickly by Dawn.  Now, only Spike and __Willow__ were left._

_Both turned suddenly, staring directly at her.  Willow stood up, walking towards her as she too began to disappear._

_"In the end, you're alone, Buffy," __Willow__ whispered, reaching a hand towards her.  "The Slayer is always alone at the end."_

_Buffy reached forward to grab __Willow__'s outstretched hand but it disappeared before she could touch it.  Buffy watched in fascination as _Willow___ disappeared slowly until only her eyes were left.  For just a split second, her eyes glowed first black then a bright bright green.  But they were gone before Buffy could question it._

_"Who are you luv?"_

_Buffy turned her head so she was facing Spike.  He swaggered up to her, his trademark duster billowing around his slim body like a cloak.  She frowned at him as she digested the question._

_"What do you mean?"_

_He stopped when he was a foot from her.  "Have you ever known who you were?  Are you Buffy right now or are you the Slayer?"_

_She was stumped by his words, not understanding what he was trying to say to her.  Before she could answer, though, he continued on._

_"Can't be Little Red Riding Hood forever, ducks.  Can't be on the path towards grandma's house forever.  If you're not carefully, the Big Bad is going to jump out and catch you."_

_She responded automatically, though the words were foreign to her and not what she meant to say.  "If he chases me, I'll just run, run as fast as I can.  He can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread man."_

_Spike chuckled at her, shaking his head.  "That's the problem right there.  Don't know who you are, do you?  Can't be the Gingerbread man if you're already Little Red Riding Hood."_

_"I can be whoever I need to be," she responded.  "I just pick and that's who I am."_

_"You can't live your life like that, little girl.  You have to figure out who you are.  Ya can't fight him if you don't know that."_

_Buffy turned around, following Spike's not outstretched finger.  A man – no, a vampire – walked towards them, smirking every step of the way.  Following him was a blonde woman, her movements stiff and robotic as if she were not alive yet.  Her eyes stared blankly ahead and Buffy shivered as she realized there wasn't a soul in her.  In fact, she could swear that there wasn't life in her._

_She turned back to look at Spike and jumped when she realized he was gone.  She looked around wildly but found no trace of him anywhere.  But she could still hear his voice, floating around her head as she turned to watch the pair walking towards her._

_"You can't fight him unless you know who you are.  Better figure it out soon, luv.  Or you might end up as her."_

_Suddenly, there was pain._

_Nothing but pain._

_Buffy gasped and slid to the ground, falling to her knees in agony.  She looked down at her hands, eyes widening in shock as her palms began to glow.  The colors were ever-changing, first green then black then red the green again.  She clenched her fists and looked up, tears streaming down her face as she fought against the pain._

_"It'll only hurt more if you fight it," the vampire said.  "Here I thought you'd be happy – you just saw all your friends, didn't you?  Got to see them one last time.  Just stop fighting.  You'll be happier that way."_

_She shook her head vigorously and clenched her teeth.  "I'll never stop fighting, Frost."_

_He sighed at her response, shaking his head at her.  "Well, you can't say I didn't try."_

_With those words he grabbed the woman that stood behind him.  He jerked her forcefully down, until she and Buffy were face to face with each other.  The woman paid no heed to the rough movements.  She stared blankly at Buffy, as if could not even digest the world around her.  She seemed more like a puppet than a living person._

_Suddenly, that all changed.  A flash of red overtook the woman and as the light slowly disappeared, her eyes stared maliciously back at Buffy's.  Her ruby red lips twisted into an evil smirk._

_"Ever wonder what it feels like to be part vampire?" the woman whispered, her voice sending a chill of premonition down Buffy's spine.  "Ever wonder what it would feel like to kill someone without feeling any guilt?  To do whatever you want without worrying about the consequences?"_

_Buffy shook her head, her only available response as she continued to fight the waves of pain that swept through her._

_The woman's smirk grew at Buffy's reaction.  "Too bad, little girl, cause you get to find out."_

_In a movement that Buffy could barely see, the woman's hand lurched forward and grabbed Buffy's palm.  As their palms met, red and black light overtook both of them, completely covered the green light that fought vainly against it._

_Buffy screamed at the pain.  It felt as though her entire body was being compacted, being taken over.  The screamed went on and on as she felt herself losing…_

Her eyes popped open, the pain gone.  She looked around the room and found the white was not as harsh as it had been earlier.  Experimentally she moved her arms, smiling at the lack of pain she felt.  She clenched her fist, reveling in the fact that her strength was back – plus some.

A slight noise from behind caused her to turn around.  A smirk crossed her lips as she stared at Frost leaning against the wall.  She walked forward, her eyes glowing red momentarily before turning back to her typical hazel color.

"You did this to me." She stated, crossing her arms across her chest.

He grinned back at her, his cold blue eyes boring into hers.  "Did it work?  Feel any fuckin' different?"

His only response was the widening of the smirk and a malicious gleam that shone in her eyes, proving to him that the girl known as Buffy Summers was no longer the same girl.


End file.
